Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HALO) Lowered to “Underperform” Rating by Leerink Partners

Leerink Partners cut shares of Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HALO) from a market perform rating to an underperform rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $47.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on HALO. Benchmark cut shares of Halozyme Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Halozyme Therapeutics from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $72.00 target price on shares of Halozyme Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Halozyme Therapeutics from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Halozyme Therapeutics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.10.

Halozyme Therapeutics Stock Down 24.6%

NASDAQ HALO opened at $50.23 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 7.80, a quick ratio of 9.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $61.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.96. The company has a market capitalization of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.64, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.26. Halozyme Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $42.01 and a 1-year high of $70.51.

Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HALO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.13. Halozyme Therapeutics had a return on equity of 157.78% and a net margin of 43.74%. The company had revenue of $264.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.21 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Halozyme Therapeutics will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Halozyme Therapeutics news, Director Jeffrey William Henderson sold 503 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.05, for a total transaction of $32,217.15. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 33,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,120,567.40. The trade was a 1.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Labarre sold 1,697 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.28, for a total transaction of $98,901.16. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 173,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,126,499.68. The trade was a 0.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,697 shares of company stock worth $1,276,552 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Halozyme Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in shares of Halozyme Therapeutics by 1,558.1% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 713 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV raised its position in shares of Halozyme Therapeutics by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 14,429 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Halozyme Therapeutics by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 895,412 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $57,136,000 after acquiring an additional 29,046 shares during the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Halozyme Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $4,757,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Halozyme Therapeutics by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,029,160 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $129,478,000 after acquiring an additional 95,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

Halozyme Therapeutics Company Profile

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharma technology platform company, researches, develops, and commercializes proprietary enzymes and devices in the United States, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, and internationally. The company's products are based on the patented recombinant human hyaluronidase enzyme (rHuPH20) that enables delivery of injectable biologics, such as monoclonal antibodies and other therapeutic molecules, as well as small molecules and fluids.