MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (NASDAQ:MLTX) Stock Bumped Down to Strong Sell by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded MoonLake Immunotherapeutics to “strong sell” from “sell,” adding to mixed analyst opinions on the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, the broader analyst consensus remains “Hold”, with 11 Buy, four Hold, and three Sell ratings and an average price target of $24.57.
• MLTX shares opened at $12.04, well below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, while the company reported a quarterly loss of $0.84 per share and insiders sold roughly $4.9 million of stock during the latest quarter.

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (NASDAQ:MLTX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded MoonLake Immunotherapeutics from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Leerink Partners upped their price target on shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $24.57.

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:MLTX opened at $12.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 12.56 and a current ratio of 12.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $15.84 and a 200 day moving average of $17.36. MoonLake Immunotherapeutics has a 52-week low of $5.95 and a 52-week high of $62.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of -3.14 and a beta of 1.04.

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (NASDAQ:MLTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.84) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.91) by $0.07. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MoonLake Immunotherapeutics will post -3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Silva Santos sold 68,289 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.02, for a total transaction of $1,367,145.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,774,893 shares in the company, valued at $55,553,357.86. This represents a 2.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Kristian Reich sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.02, for a total value of $1,001,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 2,714,746 shares of the company's stock, valued at $54,349,214.92. The trade was a 1.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 244,800 shares of company stock worth $4,904,071. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLTX. Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its position in shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 25,998 shares of the company's stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 818 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics by 156.2% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,714 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,045 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in MoonLake Immunotherapeutics by 221.1% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,867 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 1,974 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in MoonLake Immunotherapeutics in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in MoonLake Immunotherapeutics in the second quarter worth about $58,000. 93.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics Company Profile

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing medicines for inflammatory and immunologic diseases. The company's approach is based on Nanobody technology, which is designed to create targeted therapies with potential advantages in tissue penetration and biological activity.

MoonLake's lead product candidate is sonelokimab, a trivalent Nanobody designed to selectively inhibit interleukin-17A and interleukin-17F, two cytokines involved in inflammatory disease.

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