Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HALO) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HALO) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on HALO. Citizens Jmp upped their target price on shares of Halozyme Therapeutics from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Halozyme Therapeutics from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Halozyme Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of Halozyme Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Benchmark increased their price target on Halozyme Therapeutics from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $78.56.

Halozyme Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:HALO opened at $70.98 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $72.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.36. Halozyme Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $47.50 and a 12 month high of $82.22. The firm has a market cap of $8.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 4.66, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 43.89.

Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HALO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.92 by ($2.16). Halozyme Therapeutics had a net margin of 22.69% and a return on equity of 136.12%. The firm had revenue of $451.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $446.13 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 51.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Halozyme Therapeutics will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Halozyme Therapeutics

In other Halozyme Therapeutics news, CEO Helen Torley sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.64, for a total transaction of $786,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 708,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,733,662.16. This trade represents a 1.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Bernadette Connaughton sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.25, for a total transaction of $140,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 40,123 shares in the company, valued at $2,818,640.75. This trade represents a 4.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 49,398 shares of company stock valued at $3,650,592 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Halozyme Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. DLD Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Halozyme Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $650,250,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Halozyme Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $128,201,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Halozyme Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $124,031,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Halozyme Therapeutics by 127.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,541,181 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $132,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,425,674 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Halozyme Therapeutics by 294.1% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,450,704 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $106,395,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082,638 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

About Halozyme Therapeutics

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in San Diego, California, that specializes in the development and commercialization of novel drug-delivery technologies. Founded in 1998, Halozyme focuses on enabling subcutaneous administration of biologic therapies through its proprietary platforms. The company’s core mission is to improve patient access and convenience while maintaining efficacy and safety profiles comparable to or better than traditional routes of administration.

The company’s flagship technology, ENHANZE®, is based on recombinant human hyaluronidase PH20 (rHuPH20), an enzyme that transiently degrades hyaluronan in the extracellular matrix.