Wedbush Reaffirms "Outperform" Rating for Fate Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FATE)

Key Points

• Wedbush reaffirmed an “Outperform” rating on Fate Therapeutics with a $7.00 price target, implying roughly 178% upside from the reported $2.52 share price.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed overall: the stock has an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $5.38, with ratings ranging from Buy to Sell.
• Fate Therapeutics narrowly beat quarterly expectations, reporting a $0.25 per-share loss versus the $0.26 consensus estimate and revenue of $2.08 million versus $1.37 million expected, though it continues to post substantial losses.

Fate Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FATE - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reissued by equities researchers at Wedbush in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $7.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Wedbush's target price would indicate a potential upside of 177.78% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Fate Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Fate Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $4.00 price objective on shares of Fate Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $3.50 target price on Fate Therapeutics in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $5.38.

Fate Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of FATE stock opened at $2.52 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $2.49 and a 200 day moving average of $1.86. Fate Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.93 and a 1 year high of $3.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $293.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.31 and a beta of 2.52.

Fate Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FATE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 million. Fate Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 2,056.79% and a negative return on equity of 58.89%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Fate Therapeutics will post -1.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fate Therapeutics

In related news, insider Cindy Tahl sold 25,590 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.88, for a total value of $48,109.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 628,155 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,180,931.40. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 4.74% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fate Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fate Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fate Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Fate Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Fate Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Fate Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.54% of the company's stock.

About Fate Therapeutics

Fate Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of first‐in‐class cellular immunotherapies for cancer and immune disorders. The company leverages its proprietary induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) platform to create off‐the‐shelf natural killer (NK) and T‐cell products designed to overcome limitations of donor‐derived approaches. Fate's research aims to deliver therapies with consistent quality, increased potency and scalable manufacturing for broad patient access.

Central to Fate's pipeline are multiple iPSC‐derived cell therapy candidates in active clinical development.

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