Sagimet Biosciences (NASDAQ:SGMT) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Sagimet Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMT) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday. The stock had previously closed at $10.42, but opened at $9.78. Sagimet Biosciences shares last traded at $9.0960, with a volume of 269,339 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SGMT. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Sagimet Biosciences in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Sagimet Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $10.71 target price on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Sagimet Biosciences from $49.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Sagimet Biosciences in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating and a $7.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Sagimet Biosciences from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.34.

Sagimet Biosciences Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $574.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.22 and a beta of 3.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $9.58 and its 200-day moving average is $7.61.

Sagimet Biosciences (NASDAQ:SGMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.25) by ($0.01). Analysts predict that Sagimet Biosciences Inc. will post -1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director George Kemble sold 20,206 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.95, for a total transaction of $201,049.70. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 62,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $618,501.95. This represents a 24.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Elizabeth Rozek sold 10,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.76, for a total value of $81,829.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 224,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,741,452.64. The trade was a 4.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 113,646 shares of company stock valued at $920,491 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sagimet Biosciences by 19.8% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 15,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 2,591 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Sagimet Biosciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $315,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Sagimet Biosciences by 344.1% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 43,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 33,982 shares during the last quarter. Dumac Inc. acquired a new position in Sagimet Biosciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $421,000. Finally, AWM Investment Company Inc. purchased a new position in Sagimet Biosciences during the second quarter worth approximately $618,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

Sagimet Biosciences Company Profile

Sagimet Biosciences, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for diseases associated with abnormal lipid metabolism. The company’s primary focus is fatty acid synthase (FASN), an enzyme involved in the production of fatty acids that can contribute to disease progression in certain metabolic and inflammatory conditions.

Sagimet’s lead product candidate is denifanstat, formerly known as TVB-2640. Denifanstat is an orally administered, selective FASN inhibitor being evaluated primarily for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a chronic liver disease that can lead to fibrosis, cirrhosis and other serious complications.