Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Sangamo Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SGMO)

Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMO) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 11,512 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 460% compared to the average volume of 2,054 call options.

Sangamo Therapeutics Trading Up 8.3 %

SGMO stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $0.91. 2,767,211 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,462,427. Sangamo Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.29 and a 1-year high of $1.48. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $0.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $188.11 million, a PE ratio of -0.48 and a beta of 1.23.

Sangamo Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SGMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.17) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.01). Sangamo Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 273.25% and a negative net margin of 2,033.69%. The company had revenue of $0.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.40 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Sangamo Therapeutics will post -0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on SGMO. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 target price on shares of Sangamo Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Sangamo Therapeutics in a research report on Sunday, July 28th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sangamo Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in Sangamo Therapeutics by 61.1% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 62,345 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 23,650 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sangamo Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $67,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Sangamo Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $89,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Sangamo Therapeutics by 56.3% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 576,219 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 207,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Sangamo Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $331,000. 56.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sangamo Therapeutics Company Profile

Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage genomic medicine company, focuses on translating science into medicines that transform the lives of patients and families afflicted with serious diseases in the United States. The company's clinical-stage product candidates are ST-920, a gene therapy product candidate, which is in Phase 1/2 clinical study for the treatment of Fabry disease; TX200, a chimeric antigen receptor engineered regulatory T cell (CAR-Treg) therapy product candidate that is in Phase 1/2 clinical study for the prevention of immune-mediated rejection in HLA-A2 mismatched kidney transplantation; SB-525, a gene therapy product candidate, which is in Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of moderately severe to severe hemophilia A; BIVV003, a zinc finger nuclease gene-edited cell therapy product candidate that is in Phase 1/2 PRECIZN-1 clinical study for the treatment of sickle cell disease.