Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Buys Shares of 10,159 LENZ Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:LENZ)

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management Co. LP has made a significant investment of $261,000 in LENZ Therapeutics, acquiring 10,159 shares during the first quarter.
• Financial analysts are optimistic about LENZ Therapeutics, with multiple upgrades in target prices, including a rise from $39.00 to $40.00 by Raymond James and an increase to $49.00 by Citigroup.
• LENZ Therapeutics is currently trading at $30.48, with a market capitalization of approximately $869.29 million and a reported earnings per share of ($0.53) for the last quarter.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in LENZ Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:LENZ - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in LENZ Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in LENZ Therapeutics by 162.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,860 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 1,151 shares in the last quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC acquired a new position in LENZ Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $67,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in LENZ Therapeutics by 5,254.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,836 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 5,727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in LENZ Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.32% of the company's stock.

LENZ Therapeutics Stock Performance

LENZ Therapeutics stock traded up $2.56 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $34.68. 1,136,207 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 384,565. LENZ Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.53 and a fifty-two week high of $38.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $989.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.25 and a beta of 0.42. The firm's 50 day moving average is $31.26 and its 200-day moving average is $27.24.

LENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LENZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.53) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.58) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.00 million. Analysts predict that LENZ Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.18 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of LENZ Therapeutics from $38.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of LENZ Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 14th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of LENZ Therapeutics from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $49.00 price objective (up previously from $45.00) on shares of LENZ Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $49.60.

LENZ Therapeutics Profile

LENZ Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing therapies to improve vision in the United States. Its product candidates include LNZ100 and LNZ101 which are in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of presbyopia. The company is headquartered in Del Mar, California.