XOMA Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

XOMA (NASDAQ:XOMA) has received an upgrade from StockNews.com, which raised its rating from "sell" to "hold" in a recent research note published on Friday.

In another development, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating for XOMA and set a price target of $104.00 for its shares in a report released on Wednesday.

XOMA Stock Performance Analysis

On Friday, shares of XOMA experienced a slight decline, trading down by $0.18 to reach $20.88. A total of 81,363 shares changed hands, a significant increase compared to the average trading volume of 26,540 shares. Over the past year, XOMA's stock has fluctuated between a low of $19.92 and a high of $35.00. The company has a market capitalization of approximately $250.12 million, a price-to-earnings (PE) ratio of -6.00, and a beta of 1.00. Currently, the stock is trading below both its 50-day moving average price of $24.37 and its 200-day moving average price of $27.14. XOMA maintains a robust current ratio of 7.52, a quick ratio of 7.52, and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Most recently, on March 17th, XOMA disclosed its quarterly earnings results. The biotechnology firm reported earnings per share (EPS) of ($0.46), which was below analysts' expectations of ($0.29) by $0.17. The company's return on equity was negative at -24.95%, with a concerning negative net margin of -151.34%. XOMA generated revenue of $8.70 million for the quarter, slightly missing the consensus estimate of $8.75 million. Analysts predict that the company will report an EPS of -1.41 for the current fiscal year.

Insider Trading Activity

In related insider trading news, a significant shareholder, Bvf Partners L.P./Il, conducted a sale of 500,742 shares of XOMA on January 24th, selling the shares at an average price of $26.10 for a total transaction value of approximately $13,069,366.20. This sale was duly reported in a filing with the SEC. Company insiders currently own about 7.20% of XOMA's shares.

Institutional Ownership Trends

Recently, there have been notable changes in the institutional holdings of XOMA. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in XOMA by 0.6% in the third quarter, acquiring an additional 1,138 shares for a total of 182,741 shares valued at $4.84 million. Barclays PLC made a more significant change, boosting its investment in XOMA by 300.7% during the same quarter, resulting in ownership of 11,256 shares valued at $298,000 after adding 8,447 shares. BNP Paribas Financial Markets has also raised its position by 95.0%, now holding 1,632 shares valued at $43,000. State Street Corp increased its stake by 1.2%, bringing its total to 142,857 shares valued at $3.78 million after acquiring 1,754 additional shares. Lastly, the New York State Common Retirement Fund expanded its position by 51.2%, owning 2,362 shares worth $62,000. Overall, institutional investors hold 95.92% of XOMA's stock.

About XOMA Corporation

XOMA Corporation operates as a biotechnology royalty aggregator primarily in the United States and the Asia Pacific region. The company owns a diverse portfolio of economic rights linked to potential milestone and royalty payments associated with both partnered and pre-commercial therapeutic candidates. Its focus includes early to mid-stage clinical assets that are mainly in Phase 1 and 2, which have commercial sales potential and are licensed to various partners. Additionally, XOMA works on acquiring revenue streams relating to milestone and royalty payments on both late-stage clinical and commercial assets.

XOMA, Stock, Upgrade