Bank of America Cuts Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AGIO) Price Target to $41.00

Key Points

• Bank of America cut Agios Pharmaceuticals' price target from $44 to $41 while maintaining a "buy" rating, a level that implies about a 52.21% upside from the stock's prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed — six Buys, four Holds and one Sell — leaving a MarketBeat consensus of "Hold" and an average target of $41.78, with individual targets ranging roughly from the low $30s up to $46.
• Company insiders (including Sarah Gheuens and CFO Cecilia Jones) recently sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans to cover tax obligations, and AGIO traded near $26.94 mid-day (market cap about $1.58B), down ~0.5%.

Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AGIO - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $44.00 to $41.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Bank of America's price objective indicates a potential upside of 52.21% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on AGIO. Wall Street Zen raised Agios Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Agios Pharmaceuticals from $31.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Leerink Partners upped their price target on Agios Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on Agios Pharmaceuticals from $38.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Agios Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.78.

Agios Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of AGIO traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.94. 148,762 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 979,560. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.76 and a beta of 0.79. The business's 50-day moving average price is $30.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.74. Agios Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $22.24 and a 1 year high of $46.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Agios Pharmaceuticals news, insider Sarah Gheuens sold 2,940 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.71, for a total value of $102,047.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 80,277 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,786,414.67. The trade was a 3.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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, CFO Cecilia Jones sold 3,141 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.71, for a total value of $109,024.11. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 54,998 shares in the company, valued at $1,908,980.58. This trade represents a 5.40% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,582 shares of company stock valued at $520,405. Company insiders own 4.93% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agios Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bellevue Group AG boosted its holdings in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% in the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 3,714,736 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $149,110,000 after acquiring an additional 124,586 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted 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 worth $84,604,000 after acquiring an additional 845,433 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,804,900 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $76,343,000 after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 worth $99,203,000 after acquiring an additional 2,049,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commodore Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the third quarter. Commodore Capital LP now owns 2,338,287 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $93,859,000 after purchasing an additional 13,287 shares in the last quarter.

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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