Shares of Nanosphere Inc (NASDAQ: NSPH) are on fire today after analysts at Jefferies Group upgraded the penny stock from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating. NSPH stock is currently up 28.57% at $3.24 after trading as high as $3.45 earlier in this morning’s trading session when just a week ago, it was $1.85. The upgrade comes on the heels of last weeks announcement of the FDA granting a de novo petition. Nanosphere can now market its Gram-Positive Blood Culture Nucleic Acid Test (BC-GP) on the automated sample-to-result Verigene® System.
Looking for Hot Penny Stocks? Click here and get Alerts on the Best Penny Stocks FREE.
NSPH Stock Chart
Market Cap (intraday): 140.77M
Price/Sales (ttm): 34.51
Price/Book (mrq): 2.89
52-Week High
(Jul 2, 2012): 2.59
52-Week Low
(Oct 3, 2011): 0.89
Avg Vol (3 month): 337,417
Avg Vol (10 day): 1,503,330
Shares Outstanding: 43.72M
Float: 25.25M
% Held by Insiders: 32.97%
% Held by Institutions: 38.50%
For the 3 month period ended March 31, 2012, revenues were $1.3 million compared to $0.6 million for the 3 month period ended March 31, 2011. The $0.7 million increase in revenue was entirely attributed to product sales driven by cartridge and instrument sales to new customers. The increased cartridge utilization was primarily a result of increased respiratory virus cartridge shipments, despite the very moderate flu season. Nanosphere’s cost of sales obviously increased with growing sales to $0.9 million compared to $0.5 million for the 3 month period ended March 31, 2011.
Furthermore, on June 18th, one of the company’s Directors, Mark Slezak, filed a 13D to report the he purchased a total of 79,329 shares in various transactions at an average cost of $1.9797 per share. Also, another 229,746 shares of NSPH were purchased in various transactions with an average cost of $2.0464 per share. (see here) Insider buying equals money in the bank for investors who track insiders.
About NSPH Stock
Nanosphere, Inc. develops, manufactures and markets an advanced molecular diagnostics platform, the Verigene System, that enables simple, low cost, and highly sensitive genomic and protein testing on a single platform.
The BC-GP test notably expands Nanosphere’s infectious disease test capabilities to include fast detection of bacteria that can cause deadly bloodstream infections, an increasingly recognized health threat.
With just a single automated test, the Verigene BC-GP test provides fast genus and species level detection for a broad panel of clinically significant gram-positive bacteria. The BC-GP test also detects several crucial markers for antimicrobial resistance, including the mecA, vanA, and vanB genes, which confer resistance to the antibiotics methicillin/oxacillin and vancomycin. Rapid detection of these antimicrobial resistance markers provides vital information for clinicians to determine the best treatment for bloodstream infections.
To view the SEC filings for NSPH, click here.
Bottom Line: This was one of those times you wish you jumped on the penny stock when the FDA news came out Thursday and NSPH stock price was just $1.85. But, that’s why we invest in penny stocks, for that excitement of the news breaking and the share price doubling.
Here is your opportunity to subscribe to the Most Exclusive Penny Stock newsletter.
Sign up with your email address now & get ready to make BIG PROFITS on Good Penny Stocks
(We are 100% Anti-Spam and will never rent or sell your information)
Share
JUL
