Kezar Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:KZR) Short Interest Down 29.7% in December

Kezar Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:KZR) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 176,297 shares, a decline of 29.7% from the December 15th total of 250,843 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 29,523 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.0 days. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 29,523 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KZR. Peapod Lane Capital LLC boosted its stake in Kezar Life Sciences by 9.3% during the third 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. bought a new stake in shares of Kezar Life Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Kezar Life Sciences in the 1st quarter worth approximately $125,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kezar Life Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $314,000. Finally, Stonepine Capital Management LLC increased its position in Kezar Life Sciences by 69.9% during the 2nd quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC now owns 169,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $778,000 after buying an additional 69,859 shares in the last quarter. 67.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KZR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut Kezar Life Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $5.00 price objective on shares of Kezar Life Sciences and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Kezar Life Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Kezar Life Sciences in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Kezar Life Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $6.00.

Kezar Life Sciences Stock Performance

Kezar Life Sciences stock remained flat at $6.20 during trading hours on Friday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,199. Kezar Life Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $3.53 and a fifty-two week high of $6.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.38 million, a P/E ratio of -0.73 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $6.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.09. The company has a current ratio of 7.07, a quick ratio of 7.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Kezar Life Sciences (NASDAQ:KZR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($1.53) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.81) by $0.28. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Kezar Life Sciences will post -4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.