The Goldman Sachs Group Initiates Coverage on Sagimet Biosciences (NASDAQ:SGMT)

Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Sagimet Biosciences (NASDAQ:SGMT) in a research report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “sell” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 24.24% from the stock’s current price.

SGMT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen cut Sagimet Biosciences from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Sagimet Biosciences in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Sagimet Biosciences in a research note on Friday, August 14th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of Sagimet Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Sagimet Biosciences from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $8.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sagimet Biosciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.34.

Sagimet Biosciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SGMT traded up $0.13 during trading on Thursday, reaching $9.24. 1,246,374 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,171,126. The stock has a market capitalization of $574.36 million, a P/E ratio of -7.22 and a beta of 3.45. Sagimet Biosciences has a 12 month low of $4.50 and a 12 month high of $11.45. The company has a 50 day moving average of $9.55 and a 200-day moving average of $7.60.

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

Insider Activity at Sagimet Biosciences

In related news, CEO David Happel sold 64,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.76, for a total transaction of $497,035.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 741,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,754,583.20. The trade was a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director George Kemble sold 20,206 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.95, for a total value of $201,049.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 62,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $618,501.95. This trade represents a 24.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 113,646 shares of company stock worth $920,491 over the last quarter. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sagimet Biosciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SGMT. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Sagimet Biosciences in the second quarter worth about $3,119,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sagimet Biosciences by 82.6% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 625,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,268,000 after acquiring an additional 282,969 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Sagimet Biosciences in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,551,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Sagimet Biosciences by 99.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 271,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 135,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AWM Investment Company Inc. acquired a new position in Sagimet Biosciences in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $618,000. Institutional investors 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.