Oxford Nanopore Technologies (LON:ONT) Sets New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Oxford Nanopore Technologies shares reached a new 52-week high, trading at GBX 191.50 before closing near GBX 191.20, up from the previous close of GBX 182.50.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with five Buy ratings and one Hold rating. The consensus is “Moderate Buy”, with an average price target of GBX 198.60.
• The company remains unprofitable, reporting quarterly EPS of negative GBX 4.90, a negative net margin of 54.66%, and negative return on equity of 35.45%; however, insiders have recently purchased shares, including 15,325 shares bought by an insider.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc (LON:ONT - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as GBX 191.50 and last traded at GBX 191.20, with a volume of 2928367 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 182.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ONT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lowered shares of Oxford Nanopore Technologies to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 195 price objective on shares of Oxford Nanopore Technologies in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Berenberg Bank decreased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Oxford Nanopore Technologies from GBX 190 to GBX 220 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Peel Hunt restated a "hold" rating and set a GBX 153 target price on shares of Oxford Nanopore Technologies in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of GBX 198.60.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of £1.87 billion, a PE ratio of -15.30 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 146.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of GBX 129.32. The company has a quick ratio of 6.01, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.86.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (LON:ONT - Get Free Report) last issued 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 54.66% and a negative return on equity of 35.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Nick Keher acquired 15,325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of GBX 162 per share, with a total value of £24,826.50. In the last three months, insiders have bought 15,993 shares of company stock worth $2,572,680. Company insiders own 2.54% of the company's stock.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies Company Profile

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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