Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) Trading 28.9% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Precigen, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGEN) was up 28.9% during mid-day trading on Friday after HC Wainwright raised their price target on the stock from $8.50 to $9.00. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. Precigen traded as high as $4.93 and last traded at $4.9750. Approximately 4,636,751 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 11% from the average daily volume of 4,191,926 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.86.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on PGEN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Precigen from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Precigen from $6.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Precigen in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Precigen in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Precigen presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.50.

Insider Activity

In other Precigen news, Director Randal J. Kirk sold 1,809,667 shares of Precigen stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.41, for a total value of $6,170,964.47. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,597,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,776,319.01. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Harry Jr. Thomasian purchased 8,284 shares of Precigen stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $3.62 per share, for a total transaction of $29,988.08. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 465,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,685,812.28. This trade represents a 1.81% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have bought 54,221 shares of company stock worth $214,467 and have sold 6,984,279 shares worth $25,428,688. 47.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Precigen

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Precigen in the third quarter worth approximately $41,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in Precigen during the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Precigen by 142.9% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 36,771 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 21,633 shares during the period. Flower City Capital purchased a new position in Precigen during the third quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Precigen by 134.7% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 48,803 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 28,005 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

Precigen Trading Up 31.0%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $3.78 and a 200 day moving average of $2.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.04 and a beta of 1.71.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.03). Precigen had a negative return on equity of 842.83% and a negative net margin of 2,868.66%.The business had revenue of $2.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.67 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Precigen, Inc. will post -0.32 EPS for the current year.

Precigen Company Profile

Precigen, Inc operates as a discovery and clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that develops gene and cell therapies using precision technology to target diseases in therapeutic areas of immuno-oncology, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases. It operates through two segments, Biopharmaceuticals and Exemplar.