Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) Stock Price Up 6.8% – Should You Buy?

Precigen, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGEN) shot up 6.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $7.27 and last traded at $7.4770. 2,212,956 shares traded hands 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 Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PGEN shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Precigen from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on Precigen from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Precigen from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Precigen in a report on Friday, July 17th. One equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Precigen has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.50.

Precigen Trading Up 5.9%

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 fifty day simple moving average of $6.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.00. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of -7.57 and a beta of 1.02.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $54.98 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.98 million. Precigen had a positive return on equity of 423.75% and a negative net margin of 183.98%.Precigen’s revenue for the quarter was up 6322.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Precigen, Inc. will post 0.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Precigen

In related news, CEO Helen Sabzevari sold 346,836 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.89, for a total value of $2,042,864.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,768,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,198,656.08. This represents a 8.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Harry Thomasian, Jr. sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.06, for a total transaction of $606,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 254,535 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 991,271 shares of company stock valued at $6,208,620. 41.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Precigen

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Patient Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Precigen during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $108,511,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Precigen during the second quarter valued at approximately $97,737,000. Occam Crest Management LP grew its stake in Precigen by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Occam Crest Management LP now owns 3,501,739 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $14,637,000 after purchasing an additional 799,339 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Precigen in the second quarter worth $10,536,000. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Precigen by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 891,428 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,726,000 after purchasing an additional 260,824 shares in the last quarter. 33.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Precigen

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.