Apogee Therapeutics (NASDAQ:APGE) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Shares of Apogee Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:APGE) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 1,592,995 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 6% from the previous session’s volume of 1,496,978 shares.The stock last traded at $132.6950 and had previously closed at $132.55.

Apogee Therapeutics News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apogee Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AbbVie said it will buy Apogee Therapeutics for about $10.9 billion, or $135.11 per share in cash, sending APGE sharply higher as investors reprice the stock toward the deal value. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Media coverage highlighting Apogee as one of the day’s biggest market movers and a 52-week high likely added to buying interest as merger arbitrage traders piled in. CNBC article
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target on APGE to $135 from $125, reinforcing the market’s view that the stock is trading near the deal price. Benzinga article
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusual options activity showed heavy put buying, which may reflect hedging or skepticism about deal completion rather than a direct change in fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: Citigroup also downgraded APGE to hold from strong-buy, suggesting limited upside from current levels now that the acquisition price is close to the market price. The Fly article
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder-law-firm investigations and fair-price challenges could create some headline risk around the transaction process, even if the deal ultimately closes. PR Newswire article

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on APGE shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on Apogee Therapeutics from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Apogee Therapeutics from $83.00 to $81.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $135.00 price target (up from $125.00) on shares of Apogee Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. Craig Hallum set a $135.11 price target on Apogee Therapeutics and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded Apogee Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $135.11 in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.67.

Apogee Therapeutics Stock Up 0.2%

The firm has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of -30.68 and a beta of 0.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $85.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.46.

Apogee Therapeutics (NASDAQ:APGE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($1.06) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.07) by $0.01. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apogee Therapeutics Inc. will post -4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apogee Therapeutics news, CEO Michael Thomas Henderson sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.58, for a total value of $1,651,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,132,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,562,066.46. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Carl Dambkowski sold 5,500 shares of Apogee Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.71, for a total transaction of $432,905.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 205,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,186,554.08. The trade was a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,500 shares of company stock valued at $6,323,295. Corporate insiders own 24.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apogee Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APGE. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Apogee Therapeutics by 9.4% in the first quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 1,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of Apogee Therapeutics by 26.9% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 10,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,287 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Apogee Therapeutics by 13.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 900,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,826,000 after purchasing an additional 107,176 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apogee Therapeutics by 14.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,360,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,809,000 after purchasing an additional 297,992 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apogee Therapeutics by 61.7% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 645 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.04% of the company’s stock.

About Apogee Therapeutics

Apogee Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapeutics that selectively target the nuclear receptor RORγt, a master regulator of T cell-driven inflammatory pathways. By modulating RORγt activity, Apogee aims to offer an oral treatment option for patients with autoimmune and inflammatory skin disorders.

The company’s lead candidate, APG-157, is an oral RORγt inverse agonist currently undergoing early-stage clinical evaluation for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.