Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) Receives Sell (D-) Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Precigen received a "sell (D-)" rating from Weiss Ratings, indicating a negative outlook for the stock.
• The company’s stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with a target price of approximately $8.25.
• Insider trading activity included CFO Harry Jr. Thomasian purchasing 8,284 shares, while Director Randal J. Kirk sold over 3.5 million shares recently.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell (d-)" rating reissued by Weiss Ratings in a research note issued to investors on Saturday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Precigen in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $8.50 target price on shares of Precigen in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Precigen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Precigen from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Precigen from $6.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Precigen has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $8.25.

Precigen Stock Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ PGEN opened at $4.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of -10.31 and a beta of 1.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.34. Precigen has a fifty-two week low of $0.65 and a fifty-two week high of $5.22.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $0.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.67 million. Precigen had a negative return on equity of 842.83% and a negative net margin of 2,868.66%. On average, analysts anticipate that Precigen will post -0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Precigen news, CFO Harry Jr. Thomasian bought 8,284 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $3.62 per share, with a total value of $29,988.08. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 465,694 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,685,812.28. The trade was a 1.81% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Randal J. Kirk sold 3,596,892 shares of Precigen stock in a transaction on Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.68, for a total value of $13,236,562.56. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,520,537 shares in the company, valued at $31,355,576.16. The trade was a 29.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 54,221 shares of company stock worth $214,467 and have sold 6,984,279 shares worth $25,428,688. 47.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Precigen

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Precigen in the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Precigen by 142.9% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 36,771 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 21,633 shares in the last quarter. Flower City Capital purchased a new position in Precigen in the third quarter valued at about $66,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Precigen by 134.7% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 48,803 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 28,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Precigen in the first quarter valued at about $70,000. Institutional investors own 33.51% of the company's stock.

About Precigen

Precigen, Inc operates as a discovery and clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that develops gene and cell therapies using precision technology to target diseases in therapeutic areas of immuno-oncology, autoimmune disorders, and infectious diseases. It operates through two segments, Biopharmaceuticals and Exemplar.

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