Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Cartesian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RNAC)

Cartesian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RNAC)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 438.00% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cartesian Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Cartesian Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cartesian Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $44.00 price target on shares of Cartesian Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cartesian Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.60.

Cartesian Therapeutics Price Performance

Cartesian Therapeutics stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $7.44. The stock had a trading volume of 6,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 198,586. The stock has a market cap of $224.91 million, a PE ratio of -1.24 and a beta of 0.65. Cartesian Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $5.60 and a 52 week high of $11.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.96.

Cartesian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RNAC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by $1.34. Research analysts predict that Cartesian Therapeutics will post -3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cartesian Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of RNAC. Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in shares of Cartesian Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $78,000. Miller Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cartesian Therapeutics by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Miller Financial Services LLC now owns 13,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Cartesian Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $332,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cartesian Therapeutics by 63.7% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 67,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 26,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Cartesian Therapeutics by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 271,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,956,000 after purchasing an additional 11,694 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.95% of the company’s stock.

Cartesian Therapeutics Company Profile

Cartesian Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: RNAC) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cell therapies for autoimmune diseases. Its research focuses on mRNA cell therapy, an approach designed to program a patient’s own immune cells to target disease-related proteins while enabling transient expression of the therapeutic construct.

The company’s lead program, Descartes-08, is an autologous anti-BCMA CAR T-cell therapy that uses mRNA to direct T cells against B-cell maturation antigen.