B. Riley Financial Upgrades Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) to Strong-Buy

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) was upgraded by analysts at B. Riley Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Precigen in a report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Precigen from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Precigen from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Precigen from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Precigen presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $13.67.

Precigen Price Performance

NASDAQ PGEN opened at $7.75 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $6.78 and its 200 day moving average is $5.17. Precigen has a fifty-two week low of $2.99 and a fifty-two week high of $8.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15, a quick ratio of 3.89 and a current ratio of 4.58. The company has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a PE ratio of -7.45 and a beta of 1.02.

Precigen (NASDAQ:PGEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.06. Precigen had a positive return on equity of 423.75% and a negative net margin of 183.98%.The business had revenue of $54.98 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $27.98 million. The company’s revenue was up 6322.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Precigen will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Helen Sabzevari sold 346,836 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.89, for a total transaction of $2,042,864.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,768,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,198,656.08. This trade represents a 8.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 position. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 991,271 shares of company stock worth $6,208,620. Company insiders own 41.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Precigen

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in Precigen during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Precigen during the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Precigen during the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV bought a new position in shares of Precigen during the 1st quarter valued at about $60,000. Institutional investors own 33.51% of the company’s stock.

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.