Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AGIO) Earns Outperform Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AGIO - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $55.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Royal Bank of Canada's price target suggests a potential upside of 16.08% from the stock's current price.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on AGIO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $46.00 price target on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. StockNews.com cut Agios Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Agios Pharmaceuticals from $33.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Agios Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ AGIO traded up $1.84 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $47.38. 436,922 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 707,443. The company has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.53 and a beta of 0.75. The company's 50-day moving average is $45.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.98. Agios Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $19.80 and a one year high of $50.35.

Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AGIO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.69) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.60) by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $8.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.34 million. Agios Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 1,165.69% and a negative return on equity of 47.05%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 28.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.51) EPS. Research analysts predict that Agios Pharmaceuticals will post -4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian Goff sold 11,091 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $474,140.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,792 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,368,358. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Agios Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 456,394 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $10,164,000 after purchasing an additional 4,699 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals by 111.5% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 125,309 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,791,000 after acquiring an additional 66,070 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $362,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,596,764 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $57,832,000 after acquiring an additional 137,873 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Agios Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $6,826,000.

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.