Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Zacks Research cut shares of Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on PGEN. B. Riley Financial initiated coverage on shares of Precigen in a research note on Friday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Precigen from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Precigen from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Precigen in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.67.

Precigen Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of PGEN opened at $7.55 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $7.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.41. The company has a current ratio of 4.58, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. Precigen has a 12-month low of $2.99 and a 12-month high of $8.98. The firm has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.26 and a beta of 0.92.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $54.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.98 million. Precigen had a positive return on equity of 423.75% and a negative net margin of 183.98%.Precigen’s quarterly revenue was up 6322.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Precigen will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Precigen

In related news, CFO Harry Thomasian, Jr. sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.06, for a total value of $606,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 254,535 shares in the company, valued at $1,542,482.10. This represents a 28.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Rutul Shah sold 15,342 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.50, for a total value of $115,065.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 468,865 shares in the company, valued at $3,516,487.50. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 401,511 shares of company stock worth $2,801,508. Corporate insiders own 41.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Precigen

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Precigen during the first quarter worth $27,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Precigen by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,714 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 5,426 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Precigen during the 1st quarter worth $43,000. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Precigen during the 2nd quarter worth $68,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Precigen in the 1st quarter worth $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

Precigen Company Profile

Precigen, Inc (NASDAQ:PGEN) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing gene and cell therapies for serious diseases, including cancer, infectious diseases and certain immune-related conditions. The company uses its proprietary technologies to engineer therapies intended to improve treatment precision, durability and accessibility.

Precigen’s pipeline has included PRGN-2012, an investigational immunotherapy for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, as well as programs based on its UltraCAR-T platform for cancer treatment.