ALX Oncology Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXO) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest in ALX Oncology surged 144% in June, reaching 6.32 million shares, or about 5.9% of the float, with a days-to-cover ratio of 2.1.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but slightly positive, with five Buy ratings and one Sell rating, leading to a consensus "Moderate Buy" and a $4.60 target price.
• The stock fell 7.5% to $1.97, while the company also reported a recent quarterly EPS miss of $0.17 versus expectations of $0.15 loss, and analysts expect a full-year EPS loss of 0.66.

ALX Oncology Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 6,318,290 shares, an increase of 144.0% from the June 15th total of 2,589,032 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,060,345 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days. Currently, 5.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ALX Oncology

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of ALX Oncology during the first quarter valued at about $46,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of ALX Oncology by 183.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 119,050 shares of the company's stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 77,065 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ALX Oncology by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,296,331 shares of the company's stock worth $806,000 after acquiring an additional 186,883 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of ALX Oncology during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $84,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in ALX Oncology during the third quarter valued at approximately $66,000. 97.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on ALX Oncology in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $5.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded ALX Oncology from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of ALX Oncology in a report on Friday, June 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $4.60.

ALX Oncology Stock Down 7.5%

Shares of NASDAQ ALXO opened at $1.97 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 7.21, a quick ratio of 7.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. ALX Oncology has a 12-month low of $0.44 and a 12-month high of $2.66. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $1.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $265.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.32 and a beta of 0.42.

ALX Oncology (NASDAQ:ALXO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.02). On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ALX Oncology will post -0.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ALX Oncology Company Profile

ALX Oncology, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Redwood City, California, focused on developing next-generation immuno-oncology therapies. The company's mission is to harness and amplify both innate and adaptive immune responses to improve outcomes for patients with a range of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies.

The lead candidate in ALX Oncology's pipeline is evorpacept (ALX148), a high-affinity CD47-blocking Fc-silenced fusion protein designed to enhance macrophage-mediated phagocytosis of cancer cells when combined with standard therapeutic antibodies or immune checkpoint inhibitors.

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