Short Interest in Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ:AGEN) Expands By 11.5%

Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ:AGEN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 29,350,000 shares, a growth of 11.5% from the August 15th total of 26,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Agenus Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AGEN opened at $1.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $474.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.47 and a beta of 1.42. Agenus has a 52-week low of $1.18 and a 52-week high of $3.37. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $1.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.55.

Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.20). The company had revenue of $25.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.98 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.17) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Agenus will post -0.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Agenus news, major shareholder Agenus Inc purchased 170,244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $1.54 per share, for a total transaction of $262,175.76. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 21,692,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,406,297.54. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Agenus

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Agenus by 6.5% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 377,441 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 23,190 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Agenus by 44.4% in the second quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,725,968 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,762,000 after purchasing an additional 530,875 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Agenus by 19.4% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 315,460 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 51,360 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in Agenus by 17.5% in the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 2,338,152 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after purchasing an additional 347,873 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Agenus in the second quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 55.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of Agenus in a research note on Tuesday, August 8th. StockNews.com began coverage on Agenus in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird began coverage on Agenus in a research note on Monday, June 5th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.33.

About Agenus

Agenus Inc, a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company, discovers and develops immuno-oncology products in the United States and internationally. The company offers Retrocyte Display, an antibody expression platform for the identification of fully human and humanized monoclonal antibodies; and display technologies.