Traders Buy High Volume of Sangamo Therapeutics Call Options (NASDAQ:SGMO)

Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMO) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 2,693 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,032% compared to the average volume of 238 call options.

Sangamo Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SGMO traded up $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $1.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,153,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,937,272. Sangamo Therapeutics has a one year low of $0.77 and a one year high of $5.80. The stock has a market cap of $184.27 million, a PE ratio of -0.92 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $1.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.43.

Sangamo Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SGMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by ($0.02). Sangamo Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 90.86% and a negative return on equity of 50.17%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.33 million. On average, research analysts expect that Sangamo Therapeutics will post -0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SGMO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wedbush dropped their target price on Sangamo Therapeutics from $16.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 11th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $5.00 price objective on shares of Sangamo Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Sangamo Therapeutics from $5.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Sangamo Therapeutics from $8.00 to $6.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Sangamo Therapeutics from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Sangamo Therapeutics by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 23,897 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 2,684 shares during the period. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Sangamo Therapeutics by 25.4% during the 1st quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC now owns 14,419 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 2,919 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Sangamo Therapeutics by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 29,131 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,937 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Sangamo Therapeutics by 37.9% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 12,168 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 3,342 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Sangamo Therapeutics by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 16,640 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.81% of the company’s stock.

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.