Affinity Asset Advisors LLC Has $54.77 Million Position in Praxis Precision Medicines, Inc. $PRAX

Key Points

• Affinity Asset Advisors trimmed its Praxis Precision Medicines stake by 8.1% in the first quarter, but still held 170,000 shares valued at about $54.77 million. The position represented roughly 0.61% of Praxis and 2.8% of Affinity’s portfolio.
• Praxis reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of ($3.20) versus the consensus estimate of ($3.58). Analysts still expect the company to post a full-year loss, with forecasts calling for -14.82 EPS this year.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on PRAX despite some lowered price targets, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $563.50. Meanwhile, director Jill Desimone sold 11,600 shares in a pre-arranged transaction, reducing her stake by 83.23%.

Affinity Asset Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Praxis Precision Medicines, Inc. (NASDAQ:PRAX - Free Report) by 8.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 170,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,000 shares during the period. Praxis Precision Medicines makes up about 2.8% of Affinity Asset Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC owned about 0.61% of Praxis Precision Medicines worth $54,772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Praxis Precision Medicines in the fourth quarter worth about $977,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Praxis Precision Medicines by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 562,379 shares of the company's stock valued at $165,783,000 after acquiring an additional 105,347 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Praxis Precision Medicines by 88.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 26,208 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 12,270 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D purchased a new position in shares of Praxis Precision Medicines in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,068,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Praxis Precision Medicines by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,460,933 shares of the company's stock worth $430,595,000 after purchasing an additional 193,647 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.84% of the company's stock.

Praxis Precision Medicines Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PRAX opened at $325.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.33 and a beta of 2.74. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $308.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $313.77. Praxis Precision Medicines, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.19 and a 1 year high of $366.52.

Praxis Precision Medicines (NASDAQ:PRAX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($3.20) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($3.58) by $0.38. As a group, research analysts expect that Praxis Precision Medicines, Inc. will post -14.82 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PRAX. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $650.00 target price (down from $750.00) on shares of Praxis Precision Medicines in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Praxis Precision Medicines from $433.00 to $400.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $374.00 target price (down from $420.00) on shares of Praxis Precision Medicines in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Praxis Precision Medicines in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Praxis Precision Medicines in a report on Monday, July 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $563.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Praxis Precision Medicines

In related news, Director Jill Desimone sold 11,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $311.32, for a total transaction of $3,611,312.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,337 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $727,554.84. This trade represents a 83.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Praxis Precision Medicines Company Profile

Praxis Precision Medicines is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing precision therapies for disorders driven by neuronal excitability. The company applies translational neuroscience and genetic insights to design small molecule drugs that target specific ion channels and receptor subtypes implicated in neurological and psychiatric conditions. Its research aims to address unmet needs in rare epilepsies, essential tremor, treatment-resistant depression and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders.

The company's pipeline includes several lead candidates at various stages of development.

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