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

Kezar Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:KZR) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the six brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $6.00.

A number of analysts have recently commented on KZR shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kezar Life Sciences in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. TD Cowen cut shares of Kezar Life Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $5.00 target price on shares of Kezar Life Sciences and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Kezar Life Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Kezar Life Sciences to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd.

Kezar Life Sciences Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:KZR opened at $6.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 7.07 and a quick ratio of 7.06. Kezar Life Sciences has a 1 year low of $3.53 and a 1 year high of $6.93. The company has a market cap of $45.82 million, a P/E ratio of -0.74 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($1.53) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.81) by $0.28. Sell-side analysts expect that Kezar Life Sciences will post -4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kezar Life Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Kezar Life Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in Kezar Life Sciences during the first quarter valued at approximately $125,000. Peapod Lane Capital LLC raised its position in Kezar Life Sciences by 9.3% in the third 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 period. Stonepine Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kezar Life Sciences by 69.9% in the second quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC now owns 169,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $778,000 after acquiring an additional 69,859 shares during the period. Finally, BML Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kezar Life Sciences by 55.6% during the 2nd quarter. BML Capital Management LLC now owns 635,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,909,000 after acquiring an additional 227,045 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.90% of the company’s stock.

About Kezar Life Sciences

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.