Cartesian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNAC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Cartesian Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:RNAC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.50.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RNAC. HC Wainwright cut their price objective on shares of Cartesian Therapeutics from $40.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered Cartesian Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Cartesian Therapeutics from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. BTIG Research upped their target price on Cartesian Therapeutics from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Cartesian Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, December 29th.

Cartesian Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RNAC opened at $6.84 on Thursday. Cartesian Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $5.98 and a 52 week high of $20.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $7.32 and its 200-day moving average is $8.98. The firm has a market cap of $177.84 million, a P/E ratio of -4.38 and a beta of 0.45.

Cartesian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RNAC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($1.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.81) by ($0.57). The business had revenue of $0.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.18 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cartesian Therapeutics will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Blaine Davis sold 10,591 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.82, for a total value of $72,230.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 121,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $826,720.40. This represents a 8.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 60.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cartesian Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RNAC. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in Cartesian Therapeutics by 12.5% in the second quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 9,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cartesian Therapeutics by 64.6% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 2,717 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Cartesian Therapeutics by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 13,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,000 after purchasing an additional 2,805 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Cartesian Therapeutics by 133.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 13,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 7,952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cartesian Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $74,000. 86.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cartesian Therapeutics Company Profile

Cartesian Therapeutics, trading on NASDAQ under the symbol RNAC, is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company specializing in the development of messenger RNA (mRNA)-based therapeutics. The company leverages a proprietary RNA delivery platform to induce the production of therapeutic proteins within patients, aiming to address a range of diseases through in vivo expression of disease-modifying agents. Cartesian’s technology is designed to optimize mRNA stability, translation efficiency and targeted delivery, with potential applications spanning oncology, autoimmune disorders and rare genetic conditions.

At the core of Cartesian’s approach is a synthetic mRNA platform that incorporates proprietary lipid nanoparticle (LNP) formulations.