Kezar Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:KZR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Kezar Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:KZR) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $6.00.

KZR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kezar Life Sciences to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. TD Cowen downgraded Kezar Life Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Kezar Life Sciences in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Kezar Life Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kezar Life Sciences in a research note on Monday, December 22nd.

Institutional Trading of Kezar Life Sciences

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in Kezar Life Sciences in the first quarter worth about $125,000. BML Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kezar Life Sciences by 55.6% during the second quarter. BML Capital Management LLC now owns 635,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,909,000 after buying an additional 227,045 shares during the last quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kezar Life Sciences by 69.9% during the second quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC now owns 169,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $778,000 after acquiring an additional 69,859 shares in the last quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC raised its holdings in Kezar Life Sciences by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC now owns 125,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 10,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Kezar Life Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 67.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kezar Life Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of KZR stock opened at $6.26 on Wednesday. Kezar Life Sciences has a 12 month low of $3.53 and a 12 month high of $6.93. The stock has a market cap of $45.82 million, a PE ratio of -0.74 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 7.07, a quick ratio of 7.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $6.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.92.

Kezar Life Sciences (NASDAQ:KZR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($1.53) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.81) by $0.28. On average, equities analysts expect that Kezar Life Sciences will post -4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kezar Life Sciences Company Profile

Kezar Life Sciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel small-molecule therapies that modulate the innate immune system. The company’s research centers on selective inhibition of the immunoproteasome, a key protein complex involved in antigen processing and secretion of inflammatory cytokines. By targeting this pathway, Kezar aims to address unmet medical needs in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases with high specificity and a favorable safety profile.

The company’s lead development candidate, KZR-616, is a selective immunoproteasome inhibitor being evaluated in multiple clinical trials for autoimmune conditions such as systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus nephritis, polymyositis and dermatomyositis.