LENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LENZ) Stock Price Target Lowered at Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup lowered its LENZ Therapeutics price target from $10 to $9 but maintained a Buy rating; the new target implies about 199% upside from the share price cited in the report.
• Analyst views are mixed: four rate the stock Buy, two Hold, and one Sell. The average rating is Hold, with an average price target of $14.75.
• LENZ shares traded at $3.01, near their 12-month low, after the company missed quarterly earnings and revenue estimates. Major shareholder RA Capital also sold about 2.72 million shares.

LENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LENZ - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at Citigroup from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup's price target would suggest a potential upside of 199.00% from the stock's current price.

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

LENZ Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of LENZ traded down $0.45 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $3.01. The stock had a trading volume of 734,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 933,041. The firm has a market cap of $94.57 million, a P/E ratio of -0.67 and a beta of 0.78. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $3.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.89. LENZ Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $2.80 and a 12-month high of $32.13.

LENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LENZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported ($0.99) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.89) by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $3.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 million. LENZ Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 1,134.97% and a negative return on equity of 56.10%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LENZ Therapeutics will post -4.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at LENZ Therapeutics

In other LENZ Therapeutics news, major shareholder Ra Capital Management, L.P. sold 2,718,684 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 57,559 shares in the company, valued at $193,398.24. The trade was a 97.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LENZ Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of LENZ Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $13,019,000. Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP purchased a new position in LENZ Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $4,298,000. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new position in LENZ Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $2,682,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in LENZ Therapeutics by 377.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 547,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,010,000 after purchasing an additional 432,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in LENZ Therapeutics by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,747,096 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,924,000 after purchasing an additional 240,597 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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