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

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

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KZR. William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Kezar Life Sciences in a report on Friday, October 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kezar Life Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Kezar Life Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kezar Life Sciences in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut Kezar Life Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th.

Kezar Life Sciences Price Performance

KZR stock opened at $6.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 7.07, a quick ratio of 7.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market capitalization of $44.43 million, a PE ratio of -0.72 and a beta of 0.55. Kezar Life Sciences has a 12-month low of $3.53 and a 12-month high of $6.65. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $6.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.20.

Kezar Life Sciences (NASDAQ:KZR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($1.53) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.81) by $0.28. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kezar Life Sciences will post -4.39 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Kezar Life Sciences

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Kezar Life Sciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Kezar Life Sciences in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $125,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kezar Life Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $314,000. Peapod Lane Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Kezar Life Sciences by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC now owns 125,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,000 after purchasing an additional 10,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonepine Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kezar Life Sciences by 69.9% during the 2nd quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC now owns 169,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 69,859 shares during the last quarter. 67.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kezar Life Sciences Company Profile

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.