Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Sunday.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Agenus in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Agenus currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.50.

Agenus Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of AGEN stock opened at $3.34 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.25 million, a P/E ratio of -7.26 and a beta of 1.56. Agenus has a 1 year low of $1.38 and a 1 year high of $7.34. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.70.

Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 16th. The biotechnology company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.27) by $1.83. The firm had revenue of $34.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.10 million. Agenus had a negative net margin of 2.67% and a negative return on equity of 7.65%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Agenus will post -12.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Agenus

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Agenus by 721.1% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 543,546 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 477,346 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Agenus during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,976,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Agenus by 3,080.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 441,486 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 427,604 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Agenus by 110.0% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 420,678 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,922,000 after buying an additional 220,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in Agenus during the second quarter worth about $906,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.46% of the company’s stock.

About Agenus

Agenus, Inc (NASDAQ:AGEN) is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts. The company focuses on the discovery and development of therapies designed to modulate the immune system’s response to cancer. Leveraging proprietary platforms in checkpoint modulation, vaccine technology and adjuvant systems, Agenus aims to deliver combination regimens that enhance antitumor activity across a variety of solid tumors and hematological malignancies.

Agenus’ pipeline includes monoclonal antibodies targeting immune checkpoints, cytokine-based therapeutics and vaccine candidates built on its engineered heat shock protein (HSP) platform.