HC Wainwright Issues Positive Forecast for Prelude Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PRLD) Stock Price

Key Points

• HC Wainwright raised its price target on Prelude Therapeutics from $5.00 to $8.00 and kept a "buy" rating, implying a potential upside of about 70.21% from the current price.
• Two insiders — Orbimed Advisors LLC and director David P. Bonita — each purchased 2,815,315 shares at $4.44, increasing their stakes by 31.3% and reflecting substantial insider buying activity.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed (consensus rating: "Hold", consensus price target: $7.00), and the company recently reported better-than-expected EPS (‑$0.20 vs. ‑$0.33) but revenue that missed estimates ($5.64M vs. $20.50M); PRLD opened at $4.70 with a market cap around $296M.

Prelude Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PRLD - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at HC Wainwright from $5.00 to $8.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. HC Wainwright's target price would indicate a potential upside of 70.21% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on PRLD. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Prelude Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Prelude Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, January 18th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lifted their price target on Prelude Therapeutics from $3.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $7.00.

Prelude Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of PRLD stock opened at $4.70 on Monday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $3.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.44. The firm has a market cap of $296.10 million, a PE ratio of -3.64 and a beta of 0.73. Prelude Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $0.73 and a 12 month high of $5.54.

Prelude Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PRLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 10th. The company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.33) by $0.13. The business had revenue of $5.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.50 million.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Orbimed Advisors Llc purchased 2,815,315 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.44 per share, with a total value of $12,499,998.60. Following the purchase, the director owned 11,808,945 shares in the company, valued at $52,431,715.80. This represents a 31.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David P. Bonita acquired 2,815,315 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.44 per share, with a total value of $12,499,998.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 11,808,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,431,715.80. This represents a 31.30% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 63.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Prelude Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prelude Therapeutics by 170.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 33,823 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 21,330 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Prelude Therapeutics by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 529,327 shares of the company's stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 43,946 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Prelude Therapeutics by 72.4% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 42,573 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 17,873 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Prelude Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Prelude Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $74,000. 79.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Prelude Therapeutics

Prelude Therapeutics Incorporated is a clinical-stage precision medicine company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapies for genetically defined oncology targets. By leveraging a chemical biology approach, the company aims to deliver targeted treatments that address key drivers of cancer cell growth and survival. Prelude's pipeline emphasizes novel inhibitors designed to engage molecular pathways validated by both preclinical and clinical evidence.

Among Prelude's lead programs is PRT2527, a selective PI3K‐alpha/delta inhibitor in Phase 1 clinical trials for solid tumors harboring PIK3CA and other pathway mutations.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.