Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) Stock Rating Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Precigen from “strong buy” to “buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” with four Buy, one Hold, and one Sell rating and a $13.67 average price target.
• Precigen reported quarterly revenue of $54.98 million, up 6,322.7% year over year and well above estimates, while earnings of $0.05 per share exceeded consensus expectations.
• The stock opened at $6.94 and has traded between $3.04 and $8.98 over the past year. Insiders sold roughly 301,511 shares worth $2.2 million in the latest quarter, while institutional investors own 33.51% of the company.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PGEN. B. Riley Financial initiated coverage on Precigen in a research note on Friday, September 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Precigen in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Zacks Research cut Precigen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their target price on Precigen from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $13.67.

Precigen Price Performance

PGEN stock opened at $6.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.67 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 3.89, a current ratio of 4.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. Precigen has a 12-month low of $3.04 and a 12-month high of $8.98. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $7.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.27.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.06. Precigen had a negative net margin of 183.98% and a positive return on equity of 423.75%. The business had revenue of $54.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $27.98 million. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6322.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Precigen will post 0.23 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 firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $127,224. This trade represents a 91.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Rutul R. Shah sold 34,658 shares of Precigen stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.50, for a total transaction of $259,935.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 465,012 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,487,590. This trade represents a 6.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 301,511 shares of company stock worth $2,195,508 in the last quarter. 41.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Precigen

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Optimist Retirement Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Precigen during the third quarter valued at approximately $486,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Precigen in the 3rd quarter worth $157,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its holdings in shares of Precigen by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 44,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Precigen by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 65,327 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $526,000 after purchasing an additional 8,588 shares during the period. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Precigen in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors own 33.51% of the company's stock.

About Precigen

Precigen, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing gene and cell therapies for cancer and serious diseases. The company uses its proprietary UltraCAR-T, AdenoVerse, and other gene-engineering platforms to design potential treatments intended to improve the targeting, persistence, and manufacturing of therapeutic cells and genetic medicines.

Precigen's pipeline has included PRGN-2012, an investigational immunotherapy based on a gorilla adenovector for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, as well as PRGN-2001, an investigational HPV-targeted immunotherapy.

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