Short Interest in Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGIO) Increases By 8.0%

Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGIO) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,530,000 shares, a growth of 8.0% from the December 15th total of 5,120,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 831,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.6 days. Approximately 10.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Agios Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AGIO traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $32.42. The stock had a trading volume of 807,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 953,064. The firm has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a PE ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $44.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.07. Agios Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $20.96 and a twelve month high of $62.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Tsveta Milanova sold 2,804 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.18, for a total value of $90,232.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $608,395.08. This represents a 12.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 4.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Agios Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AGIO. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Agios Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals by 21.4% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,058 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals by 554.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals by 139.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,202 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Agios Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $146,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AGIO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $56.00 in a report on Friday, September 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Agios Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Agios Pharmaceuticals from $53.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.33.

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.