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

Shares of Kezar Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:KZR) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $6.00.

KZR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Kezar Life Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $5.00 price target on Kezar Life Sciences and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kezar Life Sciences in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kezar Life Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Kezar Life Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Friday, October 17th.

Kezar Life Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KZR opened at $6.17 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $6.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.18. Kezar Life Sciences has a 1-year low of $3.53 and a 1-year high of $6.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 7.07 and a quick ratio of 7.06. The company has a market cap of $45.16 million, a PE ratio of -0.73 and a beta of 0.55.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Peapod Lane Capital LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 10,650 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Kezar Life Sciences during the third quarter worth $51,000. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in Kezar Life Sciences during the first quarter worth $125,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Kezar Life Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $314,000. Finally, Stonepine Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kezar Life Sciences by 69.9% in the second quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC now owns 169,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 69,859 shares during the last quarter. 67.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kezar Life Sciences

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.