Oxford Nanopore Technologies (LON:ONT) Stock Price Down 9% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Oxford Nanopore Technologies shares fell 9% to GBX 200.80, with trading volume 65% below the average daily level.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with five Buy ratings and one Hold rating, but the consensus price target of GBX 198.60 is slightly below the latest share price.
• The company continues to report weak profitability, including a quarterly loss of GBX 4.90 per share, a negative net margin of 54.66%, and negative return on equity of 35.45%; insiders nevertheless bought shares recently.

Shares of Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc (LON:ONT - Get Free Report) fell 9% during trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as GBX 198.40 and last traded at GBX 200.80. 3,413,419 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 9,695,631 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 220.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Oxford Nanopore Technologies Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.86, a quick ratio of 6.01 and a current ratio of 3.52. The business's 50-day moving average is GBX 161.82 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 134.20. The company has a market capitalization of £1.96 billion, a PE ratio of -16.06 and a beta of 0.96.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (LON:ONT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 19th. The company reported GBX (4.90) earnings per share for the quarter. Oxford Nanopore Technologies had a negative net margin of 54.66% and a negative return on equity of 35.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oxford Nanopore Technologies news, insider Nick Keher acquired 15,325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 162 per share, for a total transaction of £24,826.50. Insiders acquired a total of 15,993 shares of company stock worth $2,572,680 in the last three months. 2.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.