Insider Selling: Compugen (NASDAQ:CGEN) CEO Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• CEO Eran Ophir sold 5,000 shares on April 24 at $3.20 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, lowering his direct stake to 11,375 shares (a 30.53% decrease); he also sold 5,000 shares on April 14 and 5,625 shares on April 1.
• The stock dropped 5.8% to $2.92 on heavy volume (944,728 shares vs. a 414,579 average), with a market cap of about $276 million and 50/200-day moving averages of $2.24 and $1.90 respectively.
• Compugen posted a strong quarter on March 2 — $0.60 EPS vs. $0.05 expected and $67.33M revenue vs. $14.3M expected — but analysts still forecast -0.26 EPS for the year and the consensus rating is a Moderate Buy with a $5 average target.

Compugen Ltd. (NASDAQ:CGEN - Get Free Report) CEO Eran Ophir sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.20, for a total transaction of $16,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 11,375 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,400. This trade represents a 30.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Eran Ophir also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, April 14th, Eran Ophir sold 5,000 shares of Compugen stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.90, for a total transaction of $14,500.00.
• On Wednesday, April 1st, Eran Ophir sold 5,625 shares of Compugen stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.21, for a total transaction of $12,431.25.

Compugen Trading Down 5.8%

CGEN traded down $0.18 during trading on Monday, hitting $2.92. 944,728 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 414,579. The company has a market cap of $276.09 million, a PE ratio of 7.89 and a beta of 2.77. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $2.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.90. Compugen Ltd. has a 1 year low of $1.23 and a 1 year high of $3.23.

Compugen (NASDAQ:CGEN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The biotechnology company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.05 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $67.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.30 million. Compugen had a net margin of 48.57% and a return on equity of 55.68%. Equities analysts expect that Compugen Ltd. will post -0.26 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Compugen in a report on Monday, April 20th. Lake Street Capital assumed coverage on Compugen in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Compugen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on Compugen in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $4.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial raised Compugen to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $5.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGEN. Bank Hapoalim BM bought a new position in shares of Compugen in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA purchased a new stake in shares of Compugen during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Compugen during the second quarter worth about $56,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Compugen by 346.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 43,885 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 34,045 shares during the period. Finally, Platform Technology Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Compugen by 10.0% during the first quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 55,000 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. 12.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Compugen Company Profile

Compugen Ltd. NASDAQ: CGEN is a clinical-stage therapeutic discovery company that leverages proprietary computational discovery platforms to identify novel immuno-oncology targets and biomarkers. The company combines large-scale biological datasets with machine learning algorithms to generate and validate new therapeutic and diagnostic candidates. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, Compugen also maintains a presence in the United States to support its clinical development and commercial collaborations.

Compugen's predictive discovery engine scans complex biological systems in silico to reveal previously unrecognized pathways and immune checkpoints involved in cancer progression.

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