HC Wainwright Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Precision BioSciences (NASDAQ:DTIL)

Precision BioSciences (NASDAQ:DTIL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $60.00 price objective on the stock.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Precision BioSciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th.

Precision BioSciences Stock Up 7.0 %

DTIL stock opened at $5.36 on Wednesday. Precision BioSciences has a fifty-two week low of $3.61 and a fifty-two week high of $15.97. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $5.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 9.22 and a current ratio of 9.22. The company has a market capitalization of $41.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.35 and a beta of 1.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider J. Jefferson Smith sold 10,287 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.79, for a total value of $49,274.73. Following the sale, the insider now owns 87,440 shares in the company, valued at $418,837.60. This represents a 10.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Amoroso sold 36,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.67, for a total value of $172,033.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,087 shares in the company, valued at $500,096.29. The trade was a 25.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 8,734 shares of company stock worth $39,946 and have sold 47,279 shares worth $222,064. Company insiders own 4.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Precision BioSciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DTIL. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Precision BioSciences by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 702,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,322,000 after purchasing an additional 68,943 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Precision BioSciences by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 65,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 19,088 shares during the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Precision BioSciences by 177.0% during the 4th quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 87,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 56,100 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC purchased a new stake in Precision BioSciences during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Samalin Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in Precision BioSciences during the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 37.99% of the company’s stock.

Precision BioSciences Company Profile

Precision BioSciences, Inc, an advanced gene editing company, develops in vivo gene editing therapies for gene edits, including gene elimination, insertion, and excision in the United States. The company offers ARCUS, a genome editing platform to DNA genome insertion, deletion, and repair. It also provides PBGENE-HBV for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) to eliminate covalently closed circular DNA with direct cuts and edits as well as to inactivate integrated HBV DNA with the goal of long-lasting reductions in hepatitis B surface antigen; PBGENE-PMM for the treatment of m.3243 associated primary mitochondrial myopathy (PMM) which is expected to submit an IND and/or CTA.