Targacept Public Offering (NASDAQ:TRGT)

In the early morning trade on Thursday, Targacept Inc, a biotechnology company has announced that it is publicly offering 2.2 million shares of common stock. Though the company has not yet priced the offering, they have clearly stated that they need to raise money from this public offering for the betterment of the company. Targacept is a biotech company that is into designing, discovery and development of NNR Therapeutics, a new class of drugs that provides treatment for multiple diseases and several disorders of the central nervous system. The company has many products in pipeline and multiple pre-clinical product candidates.

Soon after the announcement of public offering, shares of Targacept Inc fell down to $1.86, or 8.3 percent, to $20.64 in the morning trade. In 2008, shares of this North Carolina-based company have traded between $1.40 and $22.50. Many analysts have stated that it was the public offering announcement that led to the fall of shares of Targacept Inc.

In the announcement, Targacept Inc has stated that they have granted underwriter Deutsche Bank an overallotment option to purchase additional 320,000 shares of common stock within a certain given time limit. Currently, Targacept Inc has about 25.1 million shares of common stock outstanding.