Nuvalent's (NUVL) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Key Points

• Wedbush reaffirmed its outperform rating on Nuvalent and kept a $125 price target, implying about 16% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment on NUVL is broadly positive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $140.29, though ratings are mixed across firms.
• Nuvalent’s latest earnings missed estimates, posting ($1.39) EPS versus the expected ($1.35), while insiders recently sold shares and institutional ownership remains very high at 97.26%.

Nuvalent (NASDAQ:NUVL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Wedbush in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $125.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush's target price suggests a potential upside of 16.41% from the stock's previous close.

NUVL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Nuvalent from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Nuvalent in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Nuvalent in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Nuvalent in a research note on Monday, March 30th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $116.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Nuvalent in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $189.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nuvalent has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $140.29.

Nuvalent Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NUVL opened at $107.38 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.72 and a beta of 1.15. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $102.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.08. Nuvalent has a 52 week low of $70.25 and a 52 week high of $113.01.

Nuvalent (NASDAQ:NUVL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($1.39) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.35) by ($0.04). During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.18) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nuvalent will post -5.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Alexandra Balcom sold 11,430 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.21, for a total value of $1,202,550.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 85,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,998,926.93. This represents a 11.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Richard Porter sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.69, for a total transaction of $3,050,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 324,879 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,036,945.51. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 80,023 shares of company stock valued at $8,235,217 in the last quarter. 5.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nuvalent

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Nuvalent by 64.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,874 shares of the company's stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 3,881 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Nuvalent by 54.4% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 453,620 shares of the company's stock worth $32,171,000 after buying an additional 159,873 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Nuvalent by 8.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 149,941 shares of the company's stock worth $10,634,000 after acquiring an additional 12,123 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nuvalent by 28.7% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 19,262 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 4,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Nuvalent during the second quarter valued at $412,000. 97.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nuvalent Company Profile

Nuvalent, Inc NASDAQ: NUVL is a clinical-stage precision oncology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of targeted therapies for patients with genetically defined cancers. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in San Diego, California, Nuvalent applies structure-guided drug design to develop small molecule inhibitors that address key oncogenic drivers. The company's research platform integrates insights from cancer biology, medicinal chemistry and translational science to create therapies with differentiated selectivity and potency against validated targets.

Nuvalent's lead pipeline candidates include NVL-520, a highly selective RET inhibitor designed to minimize off-target effects, and NVL-655, a potent covalent inhibitor targeting KRAS G12D mutations.

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