Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) Stock Price Up 6.8% – Here’s Why

Precigen, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGEN)’s stock price was up 6.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $7.27 and last traded at $7.4770. 2,212,956 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 4,562,377 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PGEN shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Precigen from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Precigen from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Precigen in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Precigen from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.50.

Precigen Trading Up 6.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a current ratio of 4.58. The stock has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.15 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.95.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $54.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.98 million. Precigen had a negative net margin of 183.98% and a positive return on equity of 423.75%. Precigen’s revenue was up 6322.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Precigen, Inc. will post 0.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Rutul R. Shah sold 15,342 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.50, for a total transaction of $115,065.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 468,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,516,487.50. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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, CEO Helen Sabzevari sold 346,836 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.89, for a total value of $2,042,864.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,768,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,198,656.08. The trade was a 8.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 991,271 shares of company stock worth $6,208,620. 41.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Precigen

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its holdings in shares of Precigen by 207.8% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 40,880 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 27,600 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Precigen in the second quarter worth $73,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in Precigen by 462.8% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 353,272 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,014,000 after purchasing an additional 290,505 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Precigen by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 53,713 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 5,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in Precigen in the second quarter valued at about $227,000. 33.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Precigen

Precigen, Inc (NASDAQ:PGEN) is a biotechnology company focused on developing gene and cell therapies for cancer and other serious diseases. The company uses its synthetic biology platforms to engineer targeted medicines designed to improve treatment effectiveness, durability and safety.

Precigen’s technology portfolio includes its UltraCAR-T platform for developing next-generation CAR-T cell therapies, the AdenoVerse platform for gene delivery and immunotherapy applications, and ActoBiotics technology for the localized delivery of therapeutic proteins.