Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) Hits New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Precigen shares reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $7.55 and closing around $7.28, above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $14.50, although Weiss Ratings maintains a sell rating.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.05 in earnings per share versus a projected loss of $0.01 and $54.98 million in revenue; however, insiders sold more than 1 million shares during the last quarter.

Precigen, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGEN - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $7.55 and last traded at $7.28, with a volume of 5831975 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $7.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PGEN. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Precigen in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Precigen in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Citizens Jmp lifted their target price on shares of Precigen from $9.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Precigen from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Precigen from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $14.50.

Precigen Stock Up 1.5%

The company has a current ratio of 4.58, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The firm has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.00 and a beta of 1.02. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $5.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.69.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $54.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $27.98 million. Precigen had a negative net margin of 183.98% and a positive return on equity of 423.75%. Precigen's quarterly revenue was up 6322.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Precigen, Inc. will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Rutul R. Shah sold 15,342 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.50, for a total transaction of $115,065.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 468,865 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,516,487.50. This represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Harry Jr. Thomasian sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.06, for a total value of $606,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 254,535 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,542,482.10. This trade represents a 28.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,039,239 shares of company stock valued at $5,847,960. Company insiders own 41.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Precigen

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Precigen during the 2nd quarter worth $227,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Precigen by 622.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,236,889 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $7,050,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,700 shares during the period. Syon Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Precigen in the 2nd quarter worth $86,000. AXQ Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Precigen by 223.7% in the 2nd quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 116,978 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $667,000 after purchasing an additional 80,837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Precigen by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 555,230 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,165,000 after purchasing an additional 46,796 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.51% of the company's stock.

Precigen Company Profile

Precigen, Inc NASDAQ: PGEN is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of genetic medicines. The company leverages proprietary gene and cell therapy platforms to design targeted therapies for oncology, infectious diseases and rare conditions. Precigen's approach combines synthetic biology, immuno-oncology and microbiome engineering to create precision treatments intended to enhance efficacy while minimizing off-target effects.

The centerpiece of Precigen's technology is its OmniCAR platform, which enables the rapid generation of adaptable chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell products.

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