StockNews.com Upgrades Repligen (NASDAQ:RGEN) to Hold

Repligen (NASDAQ:RGEN) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

RGEN has been the subject of several other research reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Repligen in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Repligen from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Repligen from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Repligen in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Repligen in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.25.

Repligen Price Performance

Shares of RGEN stock opened at $142.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 10.44 and a quick ratio of 5.56. The company has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -385.34, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $143.44. Repligen has a one year low of $113.50 and a one year high of $211.13.

Repligen (NASDAQ:RGEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biotechnology company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.09. Repligen had a negative net margin of 3.36% and a positive return on equity of 3.90%. The firm had revenue of $154.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $153.34 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Repligen will post 1.52 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anthony Hunt sold 22,191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.37, for a total value of $3,225,905.67. Following the sale, the director now owns 139,840 shares in the company, valued at $20,328,540.80. This represents a 13.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Repligen

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RGEN. Andra AP fonden acquired a new stake in shares of Repligen in the second quarter worth $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Repligen in the second quarter worth $33,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Repligen by 138.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 224 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Repligen by 206.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 202 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Repligen by 113.4% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 239 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.64% of the company’s stock.

About Repligen

Repligen Corporation develops and commercializes bioprocessing technologies and systems for use in biological drug manufacturing process in North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It offers Protein A ligands that are the binding components of Protein A affinity chromatography resins; and cell culture growth factor products.