Prime Medicine (NYSE:PRME) Shares Gap Up on Insider Buying Activity

Key Points

• Prime Medicine's stock price increased from $4.04 to $4.35 due to significant insider buying activity, with major shareholder Arch Venture Partners purchasing over 3 million shares.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Prime Medicine, with price targets ranging from $1.50 to $8.00, reflecting uncertainty about the stock's future performance.
• Institutional investors hold a substantial 70.37% of Prime Medicine's stock, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.

Prime Medicine, Inc. (NYSE:PRME - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $4.04, but opened at $4.35. Prime Medicine shares last traded at $4.56, with a volume of 960,713 shares trading hands.

Specifically, major shareholder Arch Venture Partners Xii, Llc purchased 3,030,300 shares of Prime Medicine stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $3.30 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,990.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,230,300 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,559,990. The trade was a 94.70% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on PRME shares. HC Wainwright cut shares of Prime Medicine from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. JMP Securities reduced their price target on shares of Prime Medicine from $10.00 to $6.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Prime Medicine in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Chardan Capital reduced their price target on shares of Prime Medicine from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Prime Medicine in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Prime Medicine currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $8.92.

Prime Medicine Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $3.10 and a 200 day moving average of $2.34. The company has a market cap of $509.74 million, a PE ratio of -1.85 and a beta of 2.39.

Institutional Trading of Prime Medicine

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Planning purchased a new stake in Prime Medicine in the second quarter worth $25,000. Freedom Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Prime Medicine in the second quarter worth $26,000. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Prime Medicine in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Prime Medicine in the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd purchased a new stake in Prime Medicine in the second quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.37% of the company's stock.

About Prime Medicine

Prime Medicine, Inc, a biotechnology company, delivers genetic therapies to address the spectrum of diseases by deploying gene editing technology. The company offers Prime Editors with a Prime Editor protein, comprising a fusion between a Cas protein and a reverse transcriptase enzyme; and a pegRNA, which targets the Prime Editor to a specific genomic location and provides a template for making the desired edit to the target DNA sequence.