ALX Oncology (NASDAQ:ALXO) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Hold" Rating

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded ALX Oncology from “sell” to “hold”, while broader analyst sentiment remains more positive overall with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and a $4.60 average target price.
• The company recently reported Q1 earnings of -$0.17 per share, missing analyst estimates of -$0.15, and analysts currently expect -0.63 EPS for the full year.
• ALX Oncology shares closed around $2.08, with a market cap of about $279.9 million; the stock has traded between $0.40 and $2.66 over the past 12 months, and insider/institutional ownership remains significant.

ALX Oncology (NASDAQ:ALXO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on ALXO. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of ALX Oncology in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler increased their target price on ALX Oncology from $3.00 to $4.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. 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 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $4.00 price objective on shares of ALX Oncology in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on ALX Oncology in a report on Friday, March 6th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $6.00 price objective on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $4.60.

ALX Oncology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ALXO opened at $2.08 on Friday. ALX Oncology has a 12 month low of $0.40 and a 12 month high of $2.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $279.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.09 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 2.07. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $1.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.70.

ALX Oncology (NASDAQ:ALXO - Get Free Report) last announced its 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). Analysts expect that ALX Oncology will post -0.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jason Lettmann sold 12,311 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.17, for a total transaction of $26,714.87. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 293,609 shares in the company, valued at $637,131.53. This represents a 4.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 21.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ALX Oncology

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALXO. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP acquired a new position in ALX Oncology during the 4th quarter worth $133,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in ALX Oncology by 111.3% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 76,072 shares of the company's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 40,072 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in ALX Oncology by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 124,228 shares of the company's stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 12,300 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in ALX Oncology by 157.2% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 423,099 shares of the company's stock worth $478,000 after buying an additional 258,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new position in ALX Oncology during the 3rd quarter worth $1,195,000. 97.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.