XOMA (NASDAQ:XOMA) Earns “Buy” Rating from HC Wainwright

XOMA (NASDAQ:XOMA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $104.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price indicates a potential upside of 395.95% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, StockNews.com raised XOMA from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st.

XOMA Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ XOMA opened at $20.97 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $251.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.03 and a beta of 1.00. XOMA has a 52 week low of $19.92 and a 52 week high of $35.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.95. The company has a quick ratio of 7.52, a current ratio of 7.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

XOMA (NASDAQ:XOMA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 17th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.46) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by ($0.17). XOMA had a negative return on equity of 24.95% and a negative net margin of 151.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.75 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that XOMA will post -1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at XOMA

In other XOMA news, major shareholder Bvf Partners L. P/Il sold 500,742 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.10, for a total transaction of $13,069,366.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CIO Bradley Sitko purchased 4,134 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.89 per share, with a total value of $98,761.26. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive now owns 10,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,462.76. This represents a 65.10 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 4,747 shares of company stock valued at $114,544. 7.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of XOMA

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of XOMA by 95.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,632 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of XOMA by 51.2% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 2,362 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of XOMA by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 4,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in XOMA by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,796 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 2,009 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in XOMA during the fourth quarter worth approximately $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.92% of the company’s stock.

About XOMA

XOMA Corporation operates as a biotech royalty aggregator in the United States and the Asia Pacific. It has a portfolio of economic rights to future potential milestone and royalty payments associated with partnered commercial and pre-commercial therapeutic candidates. The company also focuses on early to mid-stage clinical assets primarily in Phase 1 and 2 with commercial sales potential that are licensed to partners; and acquires milestone and royalty revenue streams on late-stage clinical or commercial assets.