Oxford Nanopore Technologies (LON:ONT) Hits New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Oxford Nanopore Technologies reached a new 52-week high of GBX 239.20, up from its previous close of GBX 225.60, with more than 12.2 million shares traded.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with five Buy ratings and one Hold rating producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus, although the average target price of GBX 198.60 is below the current share price.
• The company continues to report losses, including quarterly EPS of GBX (4.90), a negative net margin of 51.66% and negative return on equity of 27.36%; insiders nevertheless bought 39,885 shares during the latest quarter.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc (LON:ONT - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as GBX 239.20 and last traded at GBX 239.20, with a volume of 12,219,121 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 225.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Peel Hunt reiterated a "hold" rating and set a GBX 153 price target on shares of Oxford Nanopore Technologies in a report on Monday, July 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Oxford Nanopore Technologies from GBX 190 to GBX 220 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Citigroup lowered shares of Oxford Nanopore Technologies to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Berenberg Bank lowered their target price on shares of Oxford Nanopore Technologies from GBX 220 to GBX 200 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 195 price target on shares of Oxford Nanopore Technologies in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oxford Nanopore Technologies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of GBX 198.60.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies Price Performance

The company's 50-day moving average is GBX 185.83 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 140.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.86, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 6.01. The firm has a market capitalization of £2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.10 and a beta of 0.87.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (LON:ONT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 19th. The company reported GBX (4.90) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Oxford Nanopore Technologies had a negative net margin of 51.66% and a negative return on equity of 27.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Adrian Nevil Hennah acquired 24,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 216 per share, for a total transaction of £51,840. Also, insider Nick Keher acquired 15,325 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 162 per share, with a total value of £24,826.50. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 39,885 shares of company stock worth $7,756,678. 2.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Oxford Nanopore Technologies

Oxford Nanopore Technologies' goal is to bring the widest benefits to society through enabling the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere. The Group has developed a new generation of nanopore-based sensing technology that is currently used for real-time, high-performance, accessible, and scalable analysis of DNA and RNA. The technology is used in more than 125 countries, to understand the biology of humans, plants, animals, bacteria, viruses and environments as well as to understand diseases such as cancer.

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