Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AGIO) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGIO) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $29.61, but opened at $33.72. Agios Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $35.2060, with a volume of 367,799 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on AGIO. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on Agios Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Agios Pharmaceuticals from $38.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Agios Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.67.

Agios Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 18.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.97 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $28.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Krishnan Viswanadhan sold 2,959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $82,260.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,919.80. The trade was a 36.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Tsveta Milanova sold 2,872 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.02, for a total value of $77,601.44. Following the sale, the insider owned 34,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $940,106.86. This trade represents a 7.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 4.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Agios Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bellevue Group AG grew its position in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 3,714,736 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $149,110,000 after buying an additional 124,586 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,108,145 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $84,604,000 after acquiring an additional 845,433 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 2,804,900 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $76,343,000 after acquiring an additional 40,000 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 485.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,471,416 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $99,203,000 after acquiring an additional 2,049,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commodore Capital LP grew its holdings in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the third quarter. Commodore Capital LP now owns 2,338,287 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $93,859,000 after purchasing an additional 13,287 shares during the last quarter.

Agios Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company founded in 2008 as a spin-out from research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Agios focuses on understanding and targeting cellular metabolism to develop novel therapies for cancer and rare genetic diseases. The company’s scientific platform integrates genomic discovery, metabolic profiling and precision medicine approaches to identify and advance small-molecule candidates that correct or exploit metabolic dysfunction.

Agios’s lead products are IDH (isocitrate dehydrogenase) inhibitors that target specific cancer mutations.