CG Oncology (NASDAQ:CGON) Shares Gap Up on Insider Buying Activity

Key Points

• CG Oncology shares experienced a significant price increase, opening at $35.10 after an insider, Director Brian Guan-Chyun Liu, purchased 1.5 million shares at $33.00 each.
• Analysts differ in their ratings, with Royal Bank of Canada lowering its price target to $53.00 while Goldman Sachs upgraded the company to a "strong-buy" with a $40.00 target.
• Institutional investors now own 26.56% of CG Oncology's stock, indicating increased interest in the company among institutional stakeholders.

CG Oncology, Inc. (NASDAQ:CGON - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Monday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $33.34, but opened at $35.10. CG Oncology shares last traded at $34.33, with a volume of 114,584 shares.

Specifically, Director Brian Guan-Chyun Liu acquired 1,515,151 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $33.00 per share, for a total transaction of $49,999,983.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 1,515,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,999,983. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on CG Oncology from $56.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of CG Oncology in a research report on Monday, August 18th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CG Oncology from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of CG Oncology in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of CG Oncology from $68.00 to $53.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.00.

CG Oncology Stock Down 4.9%

The stock has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.85 and a beta of 0.87. The stock's fifty day moving average is $28.01 and its 200-day moving average is $25.86.

CG Oncology (NASDAQ:CGON - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.54) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.49) by ($0.05). CG Oncology had a negative net margin of 15,945.17% and a negative return on equity of 19.37%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CG Oncology, Inc. will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of CG Oncology by 274.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,910,470 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,792,000 after buying an additional 1,400,251 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of CG Oncology by 409.9% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,736,769 shares of the company's stock worth $45,156,000 after buying an additional 1,396,170 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. acquired a new position in shares of CG Oncology during the second quarter worth about $19,854,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in CG Oncology by 139.4% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 596,056 shares of the company's stock worth $14,597,000 after acquiring an additional 347,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in CG Oncology by 15.0% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,164,214 shares of the company's stock worth $56,270,000 after purchasing an additional 281,637 shares during the last quarter. 26.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About CG Oncology

CG Oncology, Inc, an oncolytic immunotherapy company, focuses on developing and commercializing backbone bladder-sparing therapeutics for patients with bladder cancer. The company develops BOND-003 for the treatment of high-risk bacillus calmette guerin (BCG)-unresponsive non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) patients; CORE-001 to treat cretostimogene in combination with pembrolizumab in high-risk BCG-unresponsive NMIBC patients; and CORE-002 for the treatment of cretostimogene in combination with the checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab in muscle invasive bladder cancer patients.