Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) Stock Falls 6.5% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Precigen shares fell 6.5% to about $7.99 in mid-day trading, while volume was 65% below the average daily level.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $13.67; several firms recently upgraded the stock or raised targets.
• The company beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $0.05 in EPS and $54.98 million in revenue, but remained deeply unprofitable with a negative net margin. Insiders sold about $2.8 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Shares of Precigen, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGEN - Get Free Report) dropped 6.5% during mid-day trading on Monday. The stock traded as low as $8.02 and last traded at $7.9860. Approximately 1,633,128 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 4,678,389 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on PGEN shares. B. Riley Financial assumed coverage on Precigen in a report on Friday, September 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $12.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Precigen from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research raised Precigen from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. 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, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Precigen in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $13.67.

Precigen Price Performance

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $7.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.65 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 4.58 and a quick ratio of 3.89.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $54.98 million for 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%. The company's revenue was up 6322.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Precigen, Inc. will post 0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Rutul Shah sold 15,342 shares of Precigen stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.50, for a total value of $115,065.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 468,865 shares in the company, valued at $3,516,487.50. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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, Director Jeffrey Kindler sold 185,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.44, for a total transaction of $1,376,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $127,224. This trade represents a 91.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 401,511 shares of company stock worth $2,801,508 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 41.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Precigen by 0.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 374,514 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,449,000 after acquiring an additional 3,250 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Precigen by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 53,713 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 5,086 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Precigen by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,714 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 5,426 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Precigen in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Precigen during the 1st quarter worth approximately $43,000. 33.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Precigen

Precigen, Inc NASDAQ: PGEN is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing gene and cell therapies for serious diseases, including cancer, infectious diseases and certain immune-related conditions. The company uses its proprietary technologies to engineer therapies intended to improve treatment precision, durability and accessibility.

Precigen's pipeline has included PRGN-2012, an investigational immunotherapy for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, as well as programs based on its UltraCAR-T platform for cancer treatment.

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.