StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN)

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) in a report released on Wednesday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. B. Riley reduced their price target on Agenus from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Agenus in a research report on Thursday, March 14th.

Agenus Stock Down 3.1 %

NASDAQ:AGEN opened at $6.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.44 and a beta of 1.26. Agenus has a twelve month low of $6.16 and a twelve month high of $42.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $12.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.41.

Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.60) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($2.20). The company had revenue of $83.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.21 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Agenus will post -8.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Agenus news, insider Garo H. Armen acquired 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.00 per share, with a total value of $325,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 31,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $406,874. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Agenus by 18.4% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 485,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 75,500 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Agenus by 21.9% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 103,704 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 18,617 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Agenus by 3.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 767,692 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 28,600 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Agenus by 23.3% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 97,735 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 18,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Agenus by 6.6% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 220,963 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 13,594 shares in the last quarter. 61.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Agenus Company Profile

Agenus Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology 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.