LENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LENZ) Shares Break Above 50 Day Moving Average - Here's Why

Key Points

• LENZ shares rose 22.6% and moved above their 50-day moving average, trading as high as $4.37 and last at $4.29.
• Analyst views were mixed: the consensus rating was Hold with an average price target of $14.75, while Citigroup and Piper Sandler lowered their targets.
• The company missed quarterly EPS and revenue expectations. Major shareholder RA Capital also sold 2.7 million shares, reducing its stake by 97.93%.

LENZ Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:LENZ - Get Free Report) crossed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $3.91 and traded as high as $4.37. LENZ Therapeutics shares last traded at $4.29, with a volume of 1,539,259 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on LENZ. Citigroup cut their target price on LENZ Therapeutics from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of LENZ Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of LENZ Therapeutics from $7.00 to $5.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of LENZ Therapeutics from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright cut their price objective on shares of LENZ Therapeutics to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LENZ Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.75.

LENZ Therapeutics Trading Up 22.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $134.79 million, a PE ratio of -0.96 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.66.

LENZ Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LENZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported ($0.99) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.89) by ($0.10). LENZ Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 59.56% and a negative net margin of 1,134.97%. The company had revenue of $3.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.20 million. On average, equities analysts expect that LENZ Therapeutics, Inc. will post -4.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at LENZ Therapeutics

In other news, major shareholder Ra Capital Management, L.P. sold 2,718,684 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.36, for a total value of $9,134,778.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 57,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $193,398.24. This represents a 97.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 8.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in LENZ Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $13,019,000. Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP purchased a new stake in LENZ Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $4,298,000. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in LENZ Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $2,682,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of LENZ Therapeutics by 377.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 547,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,010,000 after purchasing an additional 432,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BML Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of LENZ Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,087,000. 54.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LENZ Therapeutics Company Profile

LENZ Therapeutics, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing ophthalmic medicines for the treatment of presbyopia, the age-related loss of near vision. The company is headquartered in San Diego, California, and its programs are designed to provide an alternative to reading glasses and other corrective lenses.

LENZ's primary product candidate is aceclidine ophthalmic solution, developed under the names LNZ100 and VIZZ. The pupil-selective miotic is intended to improve near vision while preserving distance vision, without relying on the lens-shaping mechanism targeted by some other presbyopia treatments.

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