Intellia Therapeutics stock price target lowered to $29 at Citizens

Investing.com - Citizens lowered its price target on Intellia Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NTLA) to $29.00 from $33.00 on Tuesday, while maintaining a Market Outperform rating. The stock, currently trading at $14.79, has seen significant volatility, with InvestingPro data showing analyst targets ranging from $8 to $106.

The price target reduction follows a 43% drop in Intellia shares after the company reported the hospitalization of an 80-year-old patient due to liver injury (Hy’s law) on Friday. The incident has raised concerns about the company’s nex-z treatment and the broader gene editing sector.

Citizens noted that Intellia voluntarily placed a hold on nex-z trials, rather than facing a regulatory-mandated pause. The firm also highlighted that the patient is currently recovering from the adverse event.

This represents the second Grade 4 case in Phase 3 trials and the third Grade 4 event overall for the treatment. The company is working to understand the mechanism behind the liver injury and potential mitigation strategies.

Despite the setback with nex-z for ATTR, Citizens values Intellia’s lonvo-z treatment for HAE alone at $21 per share, suggesting potential upside from current price levels once more details about the patient’s status become available. According to InvestingPro, 11 analysts have revised their earnings estimates upward for the upcoming period, with comprehensive analysis available in the Pro Research Report, which offers detailed insights into the company’s prospects and valuation metrics.

In other recent news, Intellia Therapeutics has faced multiple downgrades from investment firms due to safety concerns in its clinical trials. William Blair downgraded the company’s stock from Outperform to Market Perform following a voluntary pause in its Phase III MAGNITUDE and MAGNITUDE-2 studies. This pause was initiated after a patient experienced a severe case of liver toxicity. Similarly, RBC Capital downgraded Intellia from Outperform to Sector Perform, lowering its price target to $14.00 after a second liver toxicity incident. Bernstein also downgraded the stock to Market Perform, citing safety concerns, and adjusted its price target slightly to $14.50. Oppenheimer maintained an Outperform rating but reduced its price target to $33.00 following the trial pause due to liver transaminase elevations. Meanwhile, BofA Securities lowered its price target to $30.00 while maintaining a Buy rating, emphasizing the safety concerns that led to the trial pauses. These developments highlight the ongoing challenges Intellia faces in its clinical trials.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.