Short Interest in XBiotech Inc. (NASDAQ:XBIT) Expands By 21.3%

XBiotech Inc. (NASDAQ:XBIT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 144,176 shares, an increase of 21.3% from the March 15th total of 118,904 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 64,178 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of XBiotech

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of XBiotech by 27.1% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 20,729 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 4,416 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of XBiotech by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,208 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 5,344 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of XBiotech by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 73,006 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 5,700 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in shares of XBiotech by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 21,703 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 6,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of XBiotech by 31.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 42,816 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 10,333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.70% of the company’s stock.

XBiotech Trading Up 1.2%

XBIT stock opened at $2.46 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $75.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.64 and a beta of 0.84. XBiotech has a 12 month low of $2.09 and a 12 month high of $3.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $2.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.44.

XBiotech (NASDAQ:XBIT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.88) EPS for the quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of XBiotech in a report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Sell”.

About XBiotech

XBiotech Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing human antibodies to treat cancer and other inflammatory-driven diseases. The company’s core technology, the True Human™ antibody platform, enables the discovery and development of monoclonal antibodies that mimic the human immune response without the need for genetic humanization. XBiotech’s lead therapeutic candidate targets interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1α), a key mediator of inflammation associated with tumor growth and chronic disease.

The company’s most advanced program, Xilonix® (MABp1), is a first-in-class anti-IL-1α antibody that has completed Phase 3 clinical trials in metastatic colorectal cancer patients.