Despite Target Cuts, Analysts Stick With Incyte for Big Upside
After the announcement that its Phase 2 trial of Ruxolitinib would be stopped a few analysts took a deeper look at Incyte and realized that it might not be as bad as initially thought.
Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ: INCY) took it on the chin this past week following the announcement that its Phase 2 trial of ruxolitinib would be stopped. This was detrimental to the stock, but a few analysts took a deeper look at it and realized that it might not be as bad as initially thought.
On Wednesday, the company announced that the Phase 2 sub-study of ruxolitinib or placebo in combination with regorafenib in patients with relapsed or refractory metastatic colorectal cancer and high C-reactive protein (CRP) will be stopped early.
The decision to stop the sub-study was made after a planned interim analysis of the high CRP subgroup demonstrated that ruxolitinib plus regorafenib did not show a sufficient level of efficacy to warrant continuation.
As a result, shares initially dropped as low as 14% off this level, pushing a new 52-week low. However after analysts came to bat for this biotech, shares made a healthy bounce in Friday’s trading session.
A few analysts weighed in on Incyte:
- Merrill Lynch maintained a Buy rating but cut its price target to $87 from $145.
- Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating but lowered its price target to $102 from $110.
- Jefferies has a Buy rating but cut its price target to $106 from $141.
- JMP Securities has an Outperform rating and lowered its price target to $100 from $133.
- JPMorgan has an Overweight rating and lowered its price target to $115 from $125.
- Leerink has an Outperform rating and cut its price target to $118 from $135.
- UBS has a Buy rating but lowered its price target to $110 from $135.
Shares of Incyte were trading at $70.56 on Friday’s close, with a consensus analyst price target of $116.77 (this may change) and a 52-week trading range of $64.51 to $133.62.
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Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.
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