Oppenheimer Begins Coverage on Passage Bio (NASDAQ:PASG)

Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Passage Bio (NASDAQ:PASG) in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 282.17% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on PASG. Chardan Capital initiated coverage on shares of Passage Bio in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Passage Bio in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Passage Bio from $67.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Passage Bio from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.50.

Passage Bio Price Performance

Passage Bio stock opened at $7.85 on Tuesday. Passage Bio has a 1 year low of $5.12 and a 1 year high of $20.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $8.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.34. The stock has a market cap of $25.18 million, a P/E ratio of -0.54 and a beta of 1.75.

Passage Bio (NASDAQ:PASG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported ($4.08) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.19) by ($1.89). As a group, equities analysts expect that Passage Bio will post -1.03 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO William Chou sold 4,076 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.44, for a total transaction of $75,161.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 6,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,302.56. This represents a 38.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 5.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Passage Bio

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PASG. Nano Cap New Millennium Growth Fund L P purchased a new stake in shares of Passage Bio during the 4th quarter valued at about $118,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Passage Bio in the fourth quarter worth about $148,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in Passage Bio in the third quarter worth about $188,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Passage Bio by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 4,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yiheng Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Passage Bio during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $405,000. 53.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Passage Bio

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.