LENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LENZ) Stock Gets Price Target Reduction from Citigroup

LENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LENZ) had its price objective trimmed by Citigroup from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. HC Wainwright cut their price objective on shares of LENZ Therapeutics to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of LENZ Therapeutics from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of LENZ Therapeutics from $7.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of LENZ Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, LENZ Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.75.

LENZ Therapeutics Stock Performance

LENZ opened at $3.50 on Thursday. LENZ Therapeutics has a one year low of $2.80 and a one year high of $32.13. The company has a market cap of $109.97 million, a P/E ratio of -0.78 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.73.

LENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LENZ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.89) by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $3.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 million. LENZ Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 59.56% and a negative net margin of 1,134.97%. As a group, analysts predict that LENZ Therapeutics will post -4.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at LENZ Therapeutics

In related news, major shareholder Ra Capital Management, L.P. sold 2,718,684 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.36, for a total value of $9,134,778.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 57,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $193,398.24. This represents a 97.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 8.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LENZ. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LENZ Therapeutics by 92.5% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 10,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 4,854 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of LENZ Therapeutics during the first quarter worth approximately $99,000. Inscription Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of LENZ Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of LENZ Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $93,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of LENZ Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $102,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.32% of the company’s stock.

About LENZ Therapeutics

LENZ Therapeutics, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing ophthalmic medicines for the treatment of presbyopia, the age-related loss of near vision. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California, and its programs are designed to provide an alternative to reading glasses and other corrective lenses.

LENZ’s primary product candidate is aceclidine ophthalmic solution, developed under the names LNZ100 and VIZZ. The pupil-selective miotic is intended to improve near vision while preserving distance vision, without relying on the lens-shaping mechanism targeted by some other presbyopia treatments.