Insider Selling: Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE:DNA) Insider Sells 13,116 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Reshma Shetty sold 13,116 shares on April 9 at an average price of $6.40 to cover tax withholding from vested equity, generating $83,942.40 and reducing her stake to 338,568 shares (a 3.73% ownership decline).
• Ginkgo's stock trades around $6.46 with a market cap near $400M; the company reported Q EPS of -$1.42 (better than estimates) and revenue of $33.4M (below estimates), with a very negative net margin and an anticipated FY EPS of about -10.02.
• Market sentiment is muted: the consensus rating is "Reduce" with an average target of $8.50 after several price-target cuts, while institutional and hedge funds own roughly 78.6% of the shares.

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:DNA - Get Free Report) insider Reshma Shetty sold 13,116 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.40, for a total value of $83,942.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 338,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,166,835.20. This trade represents a 3.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Ginkgo Bioworks Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Ginkgo Bioworks stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $6.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 747,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,127,962. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $7.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $399.76 million, a P/E ratio of -1.14 and a beta of 1.56. Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $5.37 and a one year high of $17.58.

Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE:DNA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($1.42) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.80) by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $33.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.57 million. Ginkgo Bioworks had a negative net margin of 183.81% and a negative return on equity of 52.82%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. will post -10.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ginkgo Bioworks

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DNA. Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Ginkgo Bioworks by 10.0% during the third quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,200,000 shares of the company's stock worth $32,076,000 after buying an additional 200,000 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ginkgo Bioworks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,163,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Ginkgo Bioworks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,802,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Ginkgo Bioworks in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,458,000. Finally, Green Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ginkgo Bioworks by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 14,327 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 1,378 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on DNA. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Ginkgo Bioworks from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ginkgo Bioworks in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. BTIG Research decreased their price objective on Ginkgo Bioworks from $9.00 to $5.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Ginkgo Bioworks from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $8.50.

About Ginkgo Bioworks

Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc is a synthetic biology company that designs custom microbes for customers across a range of industries. Utilizing a proprietary organism foundry platform, the company engineers cells to produce high-value chemicals, enzymes, and other biological materials. By integrating automation, data analytics and machine learning, Ginkgo Bioworks seeks to accelerate the development of biologically derived solutions at industrial scale.

The company's services span the entire development cycle, from genetic design and strain optimization to fermentation and downstream processing.

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