Prelude Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PRLD) Shares Up 4.3% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Shares rose 4.3% to $4.40 on Thursday with above-average volume, but Wall Street consensus remains a Hold with an average price target of $5.50 amid mixed analyst ratings (two Buys, one Sell).
• Prelude reported quarterly EPS of ($0.20), beating estimates by $0.13 while revenue missed significantly ($5.64M vs. $20.5M consensus), and analysts forecast a full-year loss per share.
• The company is a clinical-stage precision oncology biotech advancing lead candidate PRT2527 (a PI3K‑alpha/delta inhibitor) in Phase 1, and institutional ownership is high at about 79.7% with recent sizable stakes added by firms like Millennium Management.

Prelude Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ:PRLD - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 4.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $4.46 and last traded at $4.40. 233,430 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 9% from the average session volume of 214,614 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.22.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on PRLD. Wall Street Zen lowered Prelude Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Prelude Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citizens Jmp increased their price target on Prelude Therapeutics from $3.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $5.50.

Prelude Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.18. The firm has a market cap of $277.20 million, a P/E ratio of -3.41 and a beta of 0.73.

Prelude Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PRLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $5.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.50 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Prelude Therapeutics Incorporated will post -1.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Prelude Therapeutics by 361.7% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,147,044 shares of the company's stock worth $1,652,000 after purchasing an additional 898,621 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Prelude Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $794,000. Sphera Funds Management LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Prelude Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $356,000. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prelude Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, Shay Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Prelude Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $61,000. Institutional investors own 79.72% of the company's stock.

Prelude Therapeutics Company Profile

Prelude Therapeutics Incorporated is a clinical-stage precision medicine company focused on the discovery and development of small molecule therapies for genetically defined oncology targets. By leveraging a chemical biology approach, the company aims to deliver targeted treatments that address key drivers of cancer cell growth and survival. Prelude's pipeline emphasizes novel inhibitors designed to engage molecular pathways validated by both preclinical and clinical evidence.

Among Prelude's lead programs is PRT2527, a selective PI3K‐alpha/delta inhibitor in Phase 1 clinical trials for solid tumors harboring PIK3CA and other pathway mutations.

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