Sequenom Shares Soar on Upgrade

Hits:1665   Date: 3/4/2010

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Shares of Sequenom climbed more than 20 percent in Tuesday afternoon trade after an investment analyst upgraded the firm's shares and significantly raised the bank's price target on the stock.

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Pamela Bassett raised the bank's rating on Sequenom's stock to "buy" from "hold" and raised the bank's price target on the stock to $16 from $4. She cited the firm's diagnostic test pipeline, the upcoming launch of the next version of its MassArray platform, and the recent settlement of a lawsuit as key reasons for the upgrade.

In mid-January, the firm agreed to pay $14 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by shareholders against the company related to the mishandling of data surrounding SEQureDx, a non-invasive test for fetal gene and chromosome abnormalities being developed by the company.

In Tuesday afternoon trade on the Nasdaq, shares of Sequenom were up 20 percent at $8.29.

As reported yesterday by GenomeWeb Daily News, Sequenom's shares were up 62 percent in February, boosted by the launch of a couple of molecular diagnostic tests.