Inozyme Pharma (NASDAQ:INZY) has been experiencing high levels of insider accumulation, with five net insiders acquiring shares over the last 90 days.
Insider accumulation at the biotech company that develops therapies for rare mineralization disorders is bullish, with a Fintel score of 98.83, the seventh highest score when screened against 14,499 other stocks.
Insiders increased their holdings, buying during a $73 min secondary offering in April at $3.69 per share. The shares made the offering’s buyers a hefty 37% return that easily topped the Nasdaq’s 10% slide.
Q1 2022 hedge fund letters, conferences and more
The insiders who bought the offering included several top company executives;
- Co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer - Axel Bolte topped up his share count in the company by 67,750, worth $250,000. Bolte owns a total of 258,575 shares.
- Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President - Henric Bjarke, who purchased 27,100 shares worth $100,000, increased his ownership to 80,626.
- Chief Financial Officer - Sanjay Subramanian, appointed in March, took the opportunity to purchase an initial 27,100 share stake in the company, worth $100,000.
Pivotal bioVenture Partners Fund, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage biotech companies, added 1.1 million shares in the offering, lifting its stake to 1,070,000 shares, or 6.64% of the company. Its total shareholding rose 66% to 2.66 million shares.
Biotech venture capital shop added Longitude Capital took another $5 million slug of the April offering, lifting its total holdings to 4.17 million shares. That makes Longitude the company's largest investor, with 10.4%.
In June, Inozyme named Kurt Gunter Chief Medical Officer. Gunter previously served as Anthenex's Chief Medical Officer for cell therapy and head of regulatory affairs.
CEO Bolte stated that "Kurt's experience across the entirety of the drug development process will be invaluable as we advance INZ-701 in our ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trials in patients with ENPP1 Deficiency and ABCC6 Deficiency and prepare for our later-stage studies."
The seven institutions covering INZY produced a consensus 'buy' rating and a $20.70 target price, suggesting over 300% upside. The consensus target has dropped from above $30 at the beginning of 2022 but remains significantly higher than the price.
Jefferies analysts Suji Jeong and Eun Yang initiated INZY coverage on May 26 with a 'hold' rating and a $5 price target. The firm noted that although INZY's valuation implies low expectations, the analysts prefer to wait for clear proof-of-concept data to form a more constructive view of the shares.
HC Wainwright & Co Analyst Edward White maintained his 'buy' call on the stock after the company's first quarter results but cut his target price to $20 from $33 after accounting for April's offering. The firm's valuation is based on long term potential sales forecasts through 2030.
Article by Ben Ward, Fintel
