CARGO Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CRGX) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

CARGO Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRGX) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $21.14, but opened at $22.98. CARGO Therapeutics shares last traded at $21.99, with a volume of 12,764 shares traded.

The company reported ($0.88) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.14) by $0.26.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on CRGX. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of CARGO Therapeutics from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Chardan Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on shares of CARGO Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of CARGO Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, CARGO Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.33.

Insider Transactions at CARGO Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Gina Chapman sold 2,975 shares of CARGO Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total transaction of $74,464.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 103,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,600,742.15. This trade represents a 2.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Anup Radhakrishnan sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.28, for a total value of $40,448.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 6,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,954.88. This represents a 19.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CARGO Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank acquired a new position in shares of CARGO Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $636,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in CARGO Therapeutics by 38.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,093,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,044,000 after purchasing an additional 854,840 shares during the period. Yu Fan purchased a new position in CARGO Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $14,975,000. Cowen AND Company LLC grew its holdings in CARGO Therapeutics by 121.7% in the second quarter. Cowen AND Company LLC now owns 554,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,102,000 after purchasing an additional 304,305 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of CARGO Therapeutics by 179.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,116,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,916,000 after buying an additional 716,868 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

CARGO Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $20.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $780.30 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.27.

About CARGO Therapeutics

CARGO Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies for cancer patients. The company's lead program is CRG-022, an autologous CD22 CAR T-cell product candidate designed to address resistance mechanisms by targeting CD22, an alternate tumor antigen that is expressed in B-cell malignancies.