Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Precigen from “strong buy” to “hold,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $13.67.
• Precigen reported quarterly revenue of $54.98 million, far above the $27.98 million estimate, while EPS of $0.05 beat expectations by $0.06; revenue increased more than 6,300% year over year.
• Company insiders sold 401,511 shares worth approximately $2.8 million over the past 90 days, while institutional investors own 33.51% of the stock.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. B. Riley Financial assumed coverage on shares of Precigen in a research note on Friday, September 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $12.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Precigen in a report on Friday, July 17th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Precigen from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Precigen from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $13.67.

Precigen Price Performance

PGEN stock opened at $7.55 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $7.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.41. The company has a quick ratio of 3.89, a current ratio of 4.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The stock has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.26 and a beta of 0.92. Precigen has a 52-week low of $2.99 and a 52-week high of $8.98.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.06. Precigen had a positive return on equity of 423.75% and a negative net margin of 183.98%.The business had revenue of $54.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.98 million. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6322.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Precigen will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Precigen news, Director Jeffrey B. Kindler sold 185,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.44, for a total value of $1,376,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 17,100 shares in the company, valued at $127,224. This represents a 91.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Harry Thomasian, Jr. sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.06, for a total transaction of $606,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 254,535 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,542,482.10. This represents a 28.21% 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. Insiders sold 401,511 shares of company stock worth $2,801,508 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 41.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Precigen

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its holdings in shares of Precigen by 207.8% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 40,880 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $233,000 after purchasing an additional 27,600 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Precigen in the 2nd quarter valued at about $73,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Precigen by 462.8% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 353,272 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,014,000 after buying an additional 290,505 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Precigen by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 53,713 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 5,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Precigen during the second quarter worth approximately $227,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.51% of the company's stock.

Precigen Company Profile

Precigen, Inc NASDAQ: PGEN is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing gene and cell therapies for serious diseases, including cancer, infectious diseases and certain immune-related conditions. The company uses its proprietary technologies to engineer therapies intended to improve treatment precision, durability and accessibility.

Precigen's pipeline has included PRGN-2012, an investigational immunotherapy for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, as well as programs based on its UltraCAR-T platform for cancer treatment.

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