Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

Shares of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $330.34, but opened at $319.48. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $314.2240, with a volume of 310,947 shares changing hands.

Specifically, insider Melissa Mclaughlin sold 2,286 shares of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.42, for a total transaction of $755,340.12. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,120,156.06. The trade was a 19.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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. Also, insider Melissa Mclaughlin sold 1,624 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.59, for a total transaction of $519,014.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,729 shares in the company, valued at $3,748,471.11. This trade represents a 12.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals from $535.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $527.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals from $529.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Alnylam Pharmaceuticals from $479.00 to $376.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Alnylam Pharmaceuticals from $495.00 to $408.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $473.87.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.0%

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $325.00 and a 200-day moving average of $392.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 189.59 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 2.71 and a current ratio of 2.76.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.18). Alnylam Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 6.43% and a return on equity of 69.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.65) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 84.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alnylam Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ALNY. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $243,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals by 372.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 222 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Flow Traders U.S. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $241,000. Jump Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals by 9.3% during the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 17,177 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,601,000 after buying an additional 1,460 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,152,000. 92.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Alnylam Pharmaceuticals

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: ALNY) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics. Founded to translate the scientific discovery of RNAi into new medicines, Alnylam applies small interfering RNA (siRNA) technology to silence disease-causing genes. The company develops therapies designed to provide durable disease modification by targeting underlying genetic drivers across a range of rare and more prevalent conditions.

Alnylam has advanced multiple siRNA-based products into commercialization, initially using lipid nanoparticle delivery and more recently employing GalNAc-conjugate chemistry to enable targeted delivery to the liver with subcutaneous dosing.