Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Hold Rating for Fate Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FATE)

Fate Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FATE)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com raised Fate Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America raised Fate Therapeutics from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on shares of Fate Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.50.

Fate Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FATE opened at $1.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $115.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.61 and a beta of 2.02. Fate Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $0.88 and a 12 month high of $8.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $1.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.39.

Fate Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FATE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.57 million. Fate Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 45.88% and a negative net margin of 1,325.43%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fate Therapeutics will post -1.63 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Redmile Group, Llc purchased 397,964 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $1.68 per share, for a total transaction of $668,579.52. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 12,884,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,645,585.36. The trade was a 3.19 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fate Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FATE. Privium Fund Management B.V. purchased a new position in shares of Fate Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $175,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Fate Therapeutics by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 125,370 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 24,804 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fate Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $108,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fate Therapeutics by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 227,981 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $798,000 after acquiring an additional 46,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Fate Therapeutics by 1,307.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 174,148 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $610,000 after acquiring an additional 161,776 shares in the last quarter. 97.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fate Therapeutics Company Profile

Fate Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops programmed cellular immunotherapies for cancer and immune disorders worldwide. The company's chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-targeted NK and T-cell product candidates include FT576 to treat multiple myeloma, and FT522, to treat lymphoma and autoimmune disorders.