Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares (NASDAQ:LKFT) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada upgraded LKFT to “outperform” from “sector perform” and raised its price target to $45 from $26, prompting the shares to gap higher. The stock opened at $31.13 after previously closing at $30.19 and was last trading at $32.25.
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive, with LKFT carrying a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37. Ratings include one Strong Buy, three Buys, and five Holds.
• LKFT recently exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.04 in earnings per share versus consensus estimates for a $0.97 loss, while revenue of $15.47 million topped estimates of $7.29 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 32.46% of the company.

Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares (NASDAQ:LKFT - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded the stock from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating. The stock had previously closed at $30.19, but opened at $31.13. Royal Bank Of Canada now has a $45.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $26.00. Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares shares last traded at $32.25, with a volume of 126,967 shares trading hands.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares in a report on Friday, August 21st. They set a "buy" rating for the company. UBS Group raised shares of Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LKFT. Madison Avenue Partners LP lifted its stake in Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Madison Avenue Partners LP now owns 2,213,169 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $72,371,000 after acquiring an additional 17,394 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,705 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 3,535 shares during the last quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new stake in shares of Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares in the 1st quarter valued at about $382,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS bought a new stake in shares of Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares in the 1st quarter valued at about $248,000. 32.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares Trading Up 6.6%

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.82 and a beta of 0.28. The company's 50 day moving average is $28.21 and its 200-day moving average is $28.89.

Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares (NASDAQ:LKFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The biotechnology company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.97) by $1.01. The business had revenue of $15.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.29 million. Research analysts expect that Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares will post -1.27 EPS for the current year.

Lakefront Biotherapeutics American Depositary Shares Company Profile

Galapagos NV, an integrated biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of various medicines for high unmet medical need. Its pipeline products include filgotinib, a JAK1 inhibitor that is in various phases of clinical trials for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, small bowel CD, fistulizing CD, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, and uveitis. The company's pipeline products also comprise GLPG1972 that has completed Phase 2b trial for treating osteoarthritis; Toledo molecules, including GLPG3970, GLPG4399, and GLPG4876 for inflammation; and GLPG4716 and Ziritaxestat to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

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