Investors Buy Large Volume of Agios Pharmaceuticals Call Options (NASDAQ:AGIO)

Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGIO) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders acquired 8,407 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 582% compared to the average volume of 1,233 call options.

Agios Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Agios Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $24.57 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.82. Agios Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $22.24 and a 12-month high of $62.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a PE ratio of -3.51 and a beta of 0.89.

Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AGIO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.78) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.93) by $0.15. The business had revenue of $12.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.49 million. Agios Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 28.35% and a negative net margin of 895.86%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 43.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $16.22 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Agios Pharmaceuticals will post -6.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Agios Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CFO Cecilia Jones sold 3,651 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.77, for a total value of $134,247.27. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 33,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,245,399.90. This represents a 9.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Theodore James Jr. Washburn sold 8,546 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.87, for a total transaction of $315,091.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 868 shares in the company, valued at $32,003.16. This trade represents a 90.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 16,099 shares of company stock valued at $620,092 in the last 90 days. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agios Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AGIO. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% during the third quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 20,325 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $796,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares during the period. TCG Crossover Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals by 105.2% in the third quarter. TCG Crossover Management LLC now owns 1,430,041 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $57,402,000 after acquiring an additional 733,038 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Agios Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $5,881,000. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Agios Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $268,000. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $5,098,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $57.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their target price on Agios Pharmaceuticals from $54.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Agios Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Leerink Partners upgraded Agios Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, HC Wainwright lowered their target price on Agios Pharmaceuticals from $56.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.67.

About Agios Pharmaceuticals

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.