Fate Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:FATE) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Fate Therapeutics has a consensus analyst rating of “Hold”, with seven firms covering the stock: one sell, three hold, and three buy ratings. The average 12-month price target is $5.13.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed, including Weiss Ratings downgrading the stock slightly, Jefferies setting a $4.00 target, and HC Wainwright reaffirming a buy rating with a $7.00 target.
• The company reported a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss of ($0.26) per share versus estimates of ($0.29), though revenue came in below expectations at $1.30 million. An insider also sold shares in May, and institutional investors continue to hold the vast majority of the stock.

Shares of Fate Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:FATE - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Hold" from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $5.1250.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Fate Therapeutics from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $4.00 target price on Fate Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of Fate Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, June 8th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Cindy Tahl sold 25,590 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.88, for a total value of $48,109.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 628,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,180,931.40. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Corporate insiders own 4.74% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fate Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Fate Therapeutics by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,798,491 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $11,086,000 after buying an additional 31,727 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Fate Therapeutics by 26.0% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,974,683 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,570,000 after acquiring an additional 613,802 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fate Therapeutics by 7.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,429,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,721,000 after acquiring an additional 159,558 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fate Therapeutics by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,162,005 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,142,000 after acquiring an additional 30,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fate Therapeutics by 9.6% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 963,871 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,214,000 after acquiring an additional 84,183 shares in the last quarter. 97.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fate Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FATE opened at $2.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $280.91 million, a P/E ratio of -2.21 and a beta of 2.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $2.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.71. Fate Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.91 and a fifty-two week high of $3.23.

Fate Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FATE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.49 million. Fate Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 2,056.79% and a negative return on equity of 58.89%. Research analysts forecast that Fate Therapeutics will post -1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Fate Therapeutics

Fate Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of first‐in‐class cellular immunotherapies for cancer and immune disorders. The company leverages its proprietary induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) platform to create off‐the‐shelf natural killer (NK) and T‐cell products designed to overcome limitations of donor‐derived approaches. Fate's research aims to deliver therapies with consistent quality, increased potency and scalable manufacturing for broad patient access.

Central to Fate's pipeline are multiple iPSC‐derived cell therapy candidates in active clinical development.

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