Broker Wedbush is upbeat on Fate Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FATE) today and repeats an 'outperform' stance and an $8 a share target price.
The biotech firm reported a net loss of $9.2mln ($0.29 a share) in its latest quarter, which was better than the Wedbush estimate of ($0.35) and consensus of ($0.38) on lower than expected costs.
The group ended the three months with $45.9mln in cash and equivalents, not including the $10.3mln private placing, which it announced yesterday (Monday).
The broker believes near-term data for ProTmune Ph 1 study will likely be positive
"We believe additional positive catalysts for FATE could be provided by partnered programs entry into the clinic throughout 2017," it said.
San Diego based Fate specialises in immunotherapy treatments - a rapidly growing area of medicine, especially in cancer. Fates' cell therapy pipeline consists of immuno-oncology programs, including off-the-shelf NK- and T-cell cancer immunotherapies, which are made from engineered cells.
Also in US brokers today, Credit Suisse has upgraded pharma giant Merck (NYSE:MERK) to 'outperform' from 'neutral' and repeated a target price of $73 a share.
Wunderlich moves EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) to 'buy' from 'hold' and lifts the target to $104 from $79.
Agricultural behemoth Monsanto (NYSE:MON) is raised to 'buy' from 'neutral' by Monness Crespi & Hardt and the target repeated at $130.