Short Interest in Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGIO) Declines By 14.9%

Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGIO) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,940,000 shares, a decrease of 14.9% from the February 13th total of 4,630,000 shares. Approximately 7.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 895,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Agios Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 3.3 %

AGIO opened at $32.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $33.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.43. Agios Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $27.14 and a 12-month high of $62.58. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.90.

Agios Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AGIO) last announced 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 net margin of 1,845.92% and a negative return on equity of 2.51%. On average, research analysts forecast that Agios Pharmaceuticals will post -6.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Agios Pharmaceuticals

In other Agios Pharmaceuticals news, insider Tsveta Milanova sold 2,804 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.18, for a total transaction of $90,232.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 18,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $608,395.08. This trade represents a 12.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,913 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $194,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 13,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,615 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 6.0% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,132 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $539,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Agios Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 61,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AGIO shares. HC Wainwright initiated coverage on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals from $53.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $56.57.

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.