Insider Buying: XBiotech (NASDAQ:XBIT) Director Purchases 368,524 Shares of Company Stock

XBiotech Inc. (NASDAQ:XBIT) Director John Simard bought 368,524 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $1.93 per share, for a total transaction of $711,251.32. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,191,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,089,961.70. The trade was a 9.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

XBiotech Stock Up 7.6%

NASDAQ XBIT traded up $0.14 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $1.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 309,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 42,140. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $2.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.33. The firm has a market cap of $60.68 million, a P/E ratio of -1.34 and a beta of 0.79. XBiotech Inc. has a 52 week low of $1.80 and a 52 week high of $3.44.

XBiotech (NASDAQ:XBIT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.03 by ($0.25).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of XBiotech from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Sell”.

Institutional Trading of XBiotech

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of XBiotech in the first quarter valued at $53,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in XBiotech during the 2nd quarter worth about $55,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in XBiotech during the 2nd quarter worth about $64,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in XBiotech during the 2nd quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in XBiotech during the 2nd quarter worth about $91,000. Institutional investors own 55.70% of the company’s stock.

About XBiotech

XBiotech, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing therapies based on True Human antibodies. Its research platform is designed to produce fully human antibodies that target specific biological pathways involved in inflammation and other serious diseases.

The company’s leading investigational product is bermekimab, an antibody designed to neutralize interleukin-1 alpha, a protein associated with inflammation and disease progression. Bermekimab has been evaluated in clinical studies involving conditions including cancer, inflammatory skin diseases and other disorders.