Cartesian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RNAC) Earns “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Cartesian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RNAC)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price suggests a potential upside of 450.66% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of Cartesian Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Cartesian Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Cartesian Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research raised Cartesian Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cartesian Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.60.

Cartesian Therapeutics Stock Up 0.7%

RNAC traded up $0.05 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $7.26. The stock had a trading volume of 126,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 199,698. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.22 and a beta of 0.62. Cartesian Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $5.60 and a 1-year high of $11.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $8.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.97.

Cartesian Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RNAC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by $1.34. On average, research analysts forecast that Cartesian Therapeutics will post -3.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cartesian Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RNAC. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in Cartesian Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth about $78,000. Miller Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Cartesian Therapeutics by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Miller Financial Services LLC now owns 13,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Cartesian Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $332,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cartesian Therapeutics by 63.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 67,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 26,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Cartesian Therapeutics by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 271,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,956,000 after purchasing an additional 11,694 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.95% of the company’s stock.

About Cartesian Therapeutics

Cartesian Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: RNAC) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cell therapies for autoimmune diseases. Its research focuses on mRNA cell therapy, an approach designed to program a patient’s own immune cells to target disease-related proteins while enabling transient expression of the therapeutic construct.

The company’s lead program, Descartes-08, is an autologous anti-BCMA CAR T-cell therapy that uses mRNA to direct T cells against B-cell maturation antigen.