Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) Trading Up 7.5% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Precigen shares were up 7.5%, trading as high as $4.20 and last at $4.2780 on Monday, with about 963,296 shares changing hands — roughly 78% below its average daily volume.
• Analysts are mixed but the consensus rating is a Hold with a $9.50 target; several firms have upgraded or raised targets recently (HC Wainwright to $10, Citizens to $9) while others remain bearish.
• Director Randal J. Kirk sold 4,772,781 shares at an average $3.30 on March 30, reducing his ownership by ~94%, and insiders collectively own about 47.10% of the company.

Precigen, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGEN - Get Free Report) was up 7.5% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $4.20 and last traded at $4.2780. Approximately 963,296 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 4,460,512 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.98.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PGEN. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Precigen from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Precigen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Citizens Jmp increased their target price on Precigen from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Precigen in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Precigen from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.50.

Precigen Stock Up 2.6%

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of -3.06 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $3.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.46, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 3.09.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.09. Precigen had a negative net margin of 2,588.21% and a positive return on equity of 2,317.96%. The business had revenue of $4.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.29 million. As a group, analysts expect that Precigen, Inc. will post -0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Precigen

In related news, Director Randal J. Kirk sold 4,772,781 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.30, for a total value of $15,750,177.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 302,213 shares in the company, valued at $997,302.90. This trade represents a 94.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 47.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Precigen

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lansing Street Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Precigen during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,800,000. Patient Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Precigen by 62.6% in the third quarter. Patient Capital Management LLC now owns 26,460,848 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $87,056,000 after purchasing an additional 10,192,107 shares during the last quarter. Boxer Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Precigen during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,796,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Precigen during the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Precigen by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 891,428 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,726,000 after buying an additional 260,824 shares in the last quarter. 33.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Precigen Company Profile

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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