Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 62,890 Shares of Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. $HALO

Key Points

• Vanguard trimmed its position by 62,890 shares (down 0.5%) to 11,566,896 shares, still owning roughly 9.84% of Halozyme (~$778.45M).
• Halozyme reported a sizable quarterly EPS miss (‑$0.24 vs. $1.92 expected) but posted a revenue beat of $451.8M (up 51.6% year‑over‑year).
• Analyst sentiment is mixed—six Buys, five Holds, one Sell—producing a consensus "Hold" and $79.11 price target, while insiders sold ~118,857 shares (~$8.28M) last quarter and institutional ownership stands at ~97.8%.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its position in Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO - Free Report) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,566,896 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 62,890 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.84% of Halozyme Therapeutics worth $778,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Halozyme Therapeutics by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 12,499 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $841,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Halozyme Therapeutics by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. now owns 56,223 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,784,000 after buying an additional 767 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp increased its position in Halozyme Therapeutics by 58.8% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,223 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Halozyme Therapeutics by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 9,163 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in Halozyme Therapeutics by 1,358.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 24,844 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,713,000 after buying an additional 23,140 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on HALO. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Halozyme Therapeutics from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on Halozyme Therapeutics from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Halozyme Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Halozyme Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Halozyme Therapeutics from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.11.

Halozyme Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:HALO opened at $63.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.66, a quick ratio of 3.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 43.89. Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.50 and a 12-month high of $82.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $66.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.89.

Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HALO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.92 by ($2.16). Halozyme Therapeutics had a return on equity of 136.12% and a net margin of 22.69%.The business had revenue of $451.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $446.13 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 51.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. will post 7.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Cortney Caudill sold 8,857 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.64, for a total transaction of $599,087.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $477,200.20. This trade represents a 55.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Helen Torley sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.50, for a total value of $635,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 767,780 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,754,030. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 118,857 shares of company stock valued at $8,279,587 in the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Halozyme Therapeutics Company Profile

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in San Diego, California, that specializes in the development and commercialization of novel drug-delivery technologies. Founded in 1998, Halozyme focuses on enabling subcutaneous administration of biologic therapies through its proprietary platforms. The company's core mission is to improve patient access and convenience while maintaining efficacy and safety profiles comparable to or better than traditional routes of administration.

The company's flagship technology, ENHANZE®, is based on recombinant human hyaluronidase PH20 (rHuPH20), an enzyme that transiently degrades hyaluronan in the extracellular matrix.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HALO? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO - Free Report).

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.