Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) Shares Up 8.5% – Here’s Why

Shares of Precigen, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGEN) shot up 8.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $6.38 and last traded at $6.5950. 983,098 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 4,667,622 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PGEN. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Precigen in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. HC Wainwright lifted 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. B. Riley Financial started coverage on shares of Precigen in a research note on Friday, September 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $12.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Precigen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Precigen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.67.

Precigen Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.67 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 4.58 and a quick ratio of 3.89.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.06. Precigen had a positive return on equity of 423.75% and a negative net margin of 183.98%. The company had revenue of $54.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.98 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6322.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Precigen, Inc. will post 0.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Precigen

In other Precigen news, COO Rutul Shah sold 34,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.50, for a total value of $259,935.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 465,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,487,590. This trade represents a 6.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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. Also, Director Jeffrey Kindler sold 185,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.44, for a total transaction of $1,376,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $127,224. This trade represents a 91.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 301,511 shares of company stock worth $2,195,508. 41.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Precigen

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PGEN. Patient Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Precigen during the second quarter valued at approximately $108,511,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Precigen in the 2nd quarter valued at $97,737,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Precigen during the second quarter worth about $10,536,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Precigen by 9.2% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 555,230 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,165,000 after purchasing an additional 46,796 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Precigen in the second quarter worth about $2,705,000. Institutional investors own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

Precigen Company Profile

Precigen, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing gene and cell therapies for cancer and serious diseases. The company uses its proprietary UltraCAR-T, AdenoVerse, and other gene-engineering platforms to design potential treatments intended to improve the targeting, persistence, and manufacturing of therapeutic cells and genetic medicines.

Precigen’s pipeline has included PRGN-2012, an investigational immunotherapy based on a gorilla adenovector for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, as well as PRGN-2001, an investigational HPV-targeted immunotherapy.