Short Interest in Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGIO) Declines By 13.7%

Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGIO) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,400,000 shares, a decline of 13.7% from the February 28th total of 3,940,000 shares. Currently, 6.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 781,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Agios Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ AGIO opened at $27.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a PE ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.99 and a 200-day moving average of $40.58. Agios Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $26.66 and a 52-week high of $62.58.

Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AGIO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.74) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.69) by ($0.05). Agios Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 2.51% and a net margin of 1,845.92%. As a group, analysts predict that Agios Pharmaceuticals will post -6.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AGIO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright began coverage on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Agios Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Agios Pharmaceuticals from $53.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Agios Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agios Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Tsveta Milanova sold 2,804 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.18, for a total value of $90,232.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 18,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $608,395.08. The trade was a 12.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Agios Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,290,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in Agios Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $9,957,000. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $9,084,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals by 39.7% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 935,252 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,732,000 after purchasing an additional 265,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Casdin Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $8,215,000.

Agios Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, discovers and develops medicines in the field of cellular metabolism in the United States. Its lead product includes PYRUKYND (mitapivat), an activator of wild-type and mutant pyruvate kinase (PK), enzymes for the treatment of hemolytic anemias.