Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Acquires 123,151 Shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (NASDAQ:MLTX)

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in MoonLake Immunotherapeutics by 9.4%, owning 1,434,770 shares valued at approximately $56 million.
• Institutional investors collectively own 93.85% of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics, with several firms significantly increasing their positions in the last quarter.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy for the stock, with a target price averaging $73.14.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (NASDAQ:MLTX - Free Report) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,434,770 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 123,151 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned about 2.24% of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics worth $56,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in MoonLake Immunotherapeutics by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,341,391 shares of the company's stock valued at $343,386,000 after buying an additional 1,391,167 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,343,643 shares of the company's stock worth $181,059,000 after purchasing an additional 363,394 shares during the period. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics by 90.3% during the fourth quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 1,772,211 shares of the company's stock worth $95,965,000 after purchasing an additional 840,731 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,280,052 shares of the company's stock worth $69,315,000 after purchasing an additional 149,724 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,245,299 shares of the company's stock worth $67,433,000 after purchasing an additional 90,914 shares during the period. 93.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MLTX shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $61.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $80.00 target price (up previously from $78.00) on shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $74.43.

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MLTX traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $52.40. The company had a trading volume of 274,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 518,204. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.85 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 16.65, a quick ratio of 21.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $48.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.16. MoonLake Immunotherapeutics has a 52 week low of $31.42 and a 52 week high of $58.26.

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (NASDAQ:MLTX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.87) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.73) by ($0.14). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.39) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that MoonLake Immunotherapeutics will post -1.79 EPS for the current year.

About MoonLake Immunotherapeutics

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing therapies. It develops Sonelokimab, a novel investigational Nanobody for the treatment of inflammation diseases; and hidradenitis suppurativa, psoriatic arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, and psoriasis. MoonLake Immunotherapeutics was incorporated in 2020 and is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland.