Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on PGEN. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Precigen in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Precigen from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Precigen in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Precigen from $6.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Precigen from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.50.

Precigen Stock Performance

Shares of PGEN stock opened at $4.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.04, a quick ratio of 3.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22. Precigen has a 12-month low of $0.65 and a 12-month high of $5.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $3.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.65. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.53 and a beta of 1.71.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.03). Precigen had a negative net margin of 3,912.92% and a positive return on equity of 1,066.10%. The business had revenue of $2.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.67 million. Analysts expect that Precigen will post -0.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Precigen

In related news, Director Randal J. Kirk sold 3,596,892 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.68, for a total transaction of $13,236,562.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,520,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,355,576.16. This represents a 29.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Harry Jr. Thomasian bought 8,284 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $3.62 per share, for a total transaction of $29,988.08. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 465,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,685,812.28. This represents a 1.81% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 38,861 shares of company stock valued at $165,315 and have sold 6,984,279 shares valued at $25,428,688. 47.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Precigen

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Patient Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Precigen by 62.6% during the third quarter. Patient Capital Management LLC now owns 26,460,848 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $87,056,000 after buying an additional 10,192,107 shares during the last quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Precigen during the 1st quarter worth $4,755,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Precigen by 201.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,505,992 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $8,245,000 after acquiring an additional 1,673,731 shares during the last quarter. Boxer Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Precigen during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,796,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Precigen by 1,895.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 667,178 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,195,000 after purchasing an additional 633,743 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

Precigen Company Profile

Precigen, Inc operates as a discovery and clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that develops gene and cell therapies using precision technology to target diseases in therapeutic areas of immuno-oncology, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases. It operates through two segments, Biopharmaceuticals and Exemplar.