XOMA (NASDAQ:XOMA) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

XOMA (NASDAQ:XOMA) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

Separately, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $104.00 target price on shares of XOMA in a report on Friday, March 28th.

XOMA Stock Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ XOMA opened at $19.44 on Thursday. XOMA has a 52 week low of $18.73 and a 52 week high of $35.00. The company has a quick ratio of 7.52, a current ratio of 7.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market capitalization of $232.87 million, a P/E ratio of -5.59 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $23.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.61.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CIO Bradley Sitko purchased 4,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $23.89 per share, for a total transaction of $98,761.26. Following the purchase, the executive now directly owns 10,484 shares in the company, valued at $250,462.76. This trade represents a 65.10 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $13,069,366.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of XOMA

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of XOMA. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in XOMA by 95.0% in the third 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 last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of XOMA by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 142,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,783,000 after buying an additional 1,754 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of XOMA by 300.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 11,256 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $298,000 after buying an additional 8,447 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of XOMA by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 182,741 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $4,840,000 after buying an additional 1,138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of XOMA by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 11,065 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,699 shares during the last quarter. 95.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

XOMA Company Profile

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.