Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) Sets New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Precigen reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $6.15 and closing near $6.02, above its prior close of $5.94.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: three analysts rate the stock Buy, two Hold and one Sell. The consensus rating is Hold, with an average price target of $12.50.
• Precigen exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting a loss of $0.02 per share versus the estimated $0.03 loss and revenue of $23.25 million. However, company insiders sold 822,728 shares worth about $4.42 million over the past quarter.

Precigen, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGEN - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $6.15 and last traded at $6.02, with a volume of 512040 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $5.94.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PGEN. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Precigen in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Precigen in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Citizens Jmp upped their target price on shares of Precigen from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Precigen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, May 31st. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Precigen from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.50.

Precigen Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.28 and a beta of 1.00. The firm's fifty day moving average is $4.94 and its 200 day moving average is $4.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.62, a quick ratio of 4.12 and a current ratio of 4.82.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.01. Precigen had a negative net margin of 646.99% and a positive return on equity of 717.50%. The business had revenue of $23.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.81 million. As a group, analysts predict that Precigen, Inc. will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Precigen news, CEO Helen Sabzevari sold 346,836 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.89, for a total value of $2,042,864.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,768,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,198,656.08. This represents a 8.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Harry Jr. Thomasian sold 171,429 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.53, for a total value of $948,002.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 354,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,960,578.55. The trade was a 32.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 822,728 shares of company stock valued at $4,422,853 over the last quarter. 41.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Precigen

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Occam Crest Management LP lifted its holdings in Precigen by 29.6% during the 4th quarter. Occam Crest Management LP now owns 3,501,739 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $14,637,000 after buying an additional 799,339 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV purchased a new stake in Precigen in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,338,000. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Precigen by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 891,428 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,726,000 after acquiring an additional 260,824 shares in the last quarter. Investment Insight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Precigen in the 4th quarter worth about $443,000. Finally, Impala Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Precigen during the fourth quarter worth approximately $690,000. 33.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Precigen

Precigen, Inc NASDAQ: PGEN is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of genetic medicines. The company leverages proprietary gene and cell therapy platforms to design targeted therapies for oncology, infectious diseases and rare conditions. Precigen's approach combines synthetic biology, immuno-oncology and microbiome engineering to create precision treatments intended to enhance efficacy while minimizing off-target effects.

The centerpiece of Precigen's technology is its OmniCAR platform, which enables the rapid generation of adaptable chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell products.

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