Precision BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTIL) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

Shares of Precision BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTIL) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.25.

DTIL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Precision BioSciences from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Precision BioSciences in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of Precision BioSciences in a report on Monday, August 3rd.

Precision BioSciences Price Performance

DTIL stock opened at $9.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 10.47, a quick ratio of 12.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $275.77 million, a PE ratio of -7.96 and a beta of 1.34. Precision BioSciences has a 12-month low of $3.53 and a 12-month high of $11.29. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $6.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.58.

Precision BioSciences (NASDAQ:DTIL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.57. Precision BioSciences had a negative return on equity of 56.69% and a negative net margin of 96.73%. The company had revenue of $1.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Precision BioSciences will post -3.33 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Precision BioSciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Octagon Capital Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Precision BioSciences by 16.6% in the first quarter. Octagon Capital Advisors LP now owns 2,236,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,302,000 after acquiring an additional 318,737 shares in the last quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Precision BioSciences during the first quarter worth $3,289,000. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its position in shares of Precision BioSciences by 70.4% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 245,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,926,000 after acquiring an additional 101,206 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in shares of Precision BioSciences by 212.7% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 137,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 93,258 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Precision BioSciences in the second quarter valued at $467,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 37.99% of the company’s stock.

About Precision BioSciences

Precision BioSciences, Inc is a biotechnology company developing gene-editing medicines using its proprietary ARCUS platform. ARCUS is based on engineered DNA-cutting enzymes designed to make targeted changes to genetic material, with the potential to remove, insert or correct DNA sequences in human cells.

The company’s research and development activities have focused primarily on in vivo gene editing, in which therapeutic editing components are delivered directly into the body. Its development programs have included potential treatments for conditions such as chronic hepatitis B infection, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and certain rare genetic disorders.