Kezar Life Sciences (NASDAQ:KZR) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kezar Life Sciences (NASDAQ:KZR) to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Kezar Life Sciences in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kezar Life Sciences has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $6.00.

Kezar Life Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ KZR opened at $7.29 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $7.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.59. The stock has a market cap of $53.86 million, a PE ratio of -1.18 and a beta of 0.40. Kezar Life Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $3.53 and a fifty-two week high of $7.55.

Kezar Life Sciences (NASDAQ:KZR) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.78) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.98) by $0.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kezar Life Sciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Torno Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Kezar Life Sciences by 142.4% during the 1st quarter. Torno Capital LLC now owns 48,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 28,479 shares in the last quarter. Rangeley Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Kezar Life Sciences by 182.9% during the 1st quarter. Rangeley Capital LLC now owns 243,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,804,000 after purchasing an additional 157,147 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Kezar Life Sciences by 43.5% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 188,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 57,141 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Kezar Life Sciences by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 30,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Credit Industriel ET Commercial bought a new position in shares of Kezar Life Sciences during the 1st quarter worth about $398,000. Institutional investors own 67.90% of the company’s stock.

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.