LENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LENZ) Shares Break Above 50 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Shares of LENZ Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:LENZ) crossed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $3.91 and traded as high as $4.37. LENZ Therapeutics shares last traded at $4.29, with a volume of 1,539,259 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LENZ shares. Zacks Research raised LENZ Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on LENZ Therapeutics from $7.00 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Weiss Ratings lowered LENZ Therapeutics from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. HC Wainwright decreased their price target on LENZ Therapeutics to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on LENZ Therapeutics from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.75.

LENZ Therapeutics Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $3.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.66. The stock has a market cap of $134.79 million, a PE ratio of -0.96 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at LENZ Therapeutics

In other news, major shareholder Ra Capital Management, L.P. sold 2,718,684 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.36, for a total transaction of $9,134,778.24. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 8.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of LENZ Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LENZ Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $13,019,000. Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of LENZ Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,298,000. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in shares of LENZ Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,682,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in LENZ Therapeutics by 377.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 547,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,010,000 after buying an additional 432,846 shares during the period. Finally, BML Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in LENZ Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,087,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.32% of the company’s stock.

LENZ Therapeutics Company Profile

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.