Chardan Capital Initiates Coverage on Passage Bio (NASDAQ:PASG)

Stock analysts at Chardan Capital began coverage on shares of Passage Bio (NASDAQ:PASG) in a research note issued on Tuesday. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. Chardan Capital’s price target indicates a potential upside of 139.73% from the company’s current price.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Passage Bio in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Passage Bio currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.67.

Passage Bio Trading Down 6.0%

Shares of PASG stock opened at $8.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.61 and a beta of 1.72. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $11.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.02. Passage Bio has a 12 month low of $5.12 and a 12 month high of $20.00.

Passage Bio (NASDAQ:PASG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($2.44) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.64) by $0.20. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Passage Bio will post -1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Passage Bio news, CEO William Chou sold 4,076 shares of Passage Bio stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total value of $75,161.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,302.56. The trade was a 38.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Passage Bio

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Passage Bio by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 4,114 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Passage Bio in the 3rd quarter valued at $188,000. Finally, Nano Cap New Millennium Growth Fund L P acquired a new stake in Passage Bio in the 4th quarter valued at $118,000. 53.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Passage Bio Company Profile

Passage Bio is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of gene therapies to treat rare, monogenic central nervous system and neuromuscular disorders. The company applies its in-house gene therapy platform to design and engineer adeno-associated virus (AAV)–based vectors that restore or replace defective genes, aiming to deliver durable treatments with a single administration.

The company’s lead programs include PBGM01, an AAV9-based therapy for GM2 gangliosidoses (Tay–Sachs and Sandhoff diseases), which is conducting a first-in-human study to assess safety and potential therapeutic benefit.