Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) Trading 6.8% Higher - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Precigen shares rose 6.8% to approximately $7.48 in Wednesday trading, although volume was 51% below the daily average.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and a $14.50 average price target, with HC Wainwright raising its target to $18.
• Precigen reported quarterly revenue of $54.98 million, up 6,322.7% year over year, and earnings per share of $0.05 versus an expected loss of $0.01. However, insiders sold 991,271 shares worth $6.2 million over the past 90 days, while the company continues to post a negative net margin.

Precigen, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGEN - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 6.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $7.27 and last traded at $7.4770. 2,212,956 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 4,562,377 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PGEN. HC Wainwright increased their target price on Precigen from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Precigen in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Precigen from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Precigen from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $14.50.

Precigen Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a current ratio of 4.58 and a quick ratio of 3.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $6.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.15 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Rutul R. Shah sold 15,342 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 Thomasian, Jr. sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.06, for a total transaction of $606,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 254,535 shares in the company, valued at $1,542,482.10. The trade was 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. Insiders sold a total of 991,271 shares of company stock valued at $6,208,620 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 41.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Precigen

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Precigen during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Precigen by 102.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 10,714 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 5,426 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Precigen in the first quarter worth about $43,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Precigen in the first quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV acquired a new position in shares of Precigen during the 1st quarter worth about $60,000. Institutional investors own 33.51% of the company's stock.

Precigen Company Profile

Precigen, Inc NASDAQ: PGEN is a biotechnology company focused on developing gene and cell therapies for cancer and other serious diseases. The company uses its synthetic biology platforms to engineer targeted medicines designed to improve treatment effectiveness, durability and safety.

Precigen's technology portfolio includes its UltraCAR-T platform for developing next-generation CAR-T cell therapies, the AdenoVerse platform for gene delivery and immunotherapy applications, and ActoBiotics technology for the localized delivery of therapeutic proteins.

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