Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AGIO) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares gapped down, opening at $29.58 after a $35.14 close and last trading near $26.80 on heavy volume (~1.2M shares).
• Analysts have raised several price targets and issued multiple buy/outperform notes, but MarketBeat's consensus remains a Hold with an average target of $42.67.
• Insiders sold shares under Rule 10b5-1 plans to cover tax obligations (about 15,582 shares last quarter), while institutional investors like Wellington and State Street materially increased their positions.

Shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGIO - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $35.14, but opened at $29.58. Agios Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $26.7980, with a volume of 1,205,493 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AGIO shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals from $38.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 26th. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Agios Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.67.

Agios Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $30.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.83. The firm has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of -3.79 and a beta of 0.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agios Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Cecilia Jones sold 3,141 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.71, for a total value of $109,024.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 54,998 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,908,980.58. This trade represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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, insider Sarah Gheuens sold 2,940 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.71, for a total transaction of $102,047.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 80,277 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,786,414.67. This represents a 3.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,582 shares of company stock valued at $520,405. Corporate insiders own 4.93% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 485.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,471,416 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $99,203,000 after buying an additional 2,049,287 shares in the last quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC purchased a new position in Agios Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $35,478,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 37.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,108,145 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $84,604,000 after buying an additional 845,433 shares in the last quarter. TCG Crossover Management LLC increased its holdings in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 105.2% in the third quarter. TCG Crossover Management LLC now owns 1,430,041 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $57,402,000 after buying an additional 733,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors purchased a new position in Agios Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $19,159,000.

About Agios Pharmaceuticals

Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company founded in 2008 as a spin-out from research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Agios focuses on understanding and targeting cellular metabolism to develop novel therapies for cancer and rare genetic diseases. The company's scientific platform integrates genomic discovery, metabolic profiling and precision medicine approaches to identify and advance small-molecule candidates that correct or exploit metabolic dysfunction.

Agios's lead products are IDH (isocitrate dehydrogenase) inhibitors that target specific cancer mutations.

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