XOMA Co. (NASDAQ:XOMA) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

XOMA Co. (NASDAQ:XOMA) was the target of a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 173,300 shares, a drop of 23.5% from the October 15th total of 226,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 22,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on XOMA shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of XOMA from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $117.00 price objective on shares of XOMA in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Owen Hughes sold 21,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.95, for a total value of $655,335.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 34,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,047,621.05. The trade was a 38.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of XOMA by 95.0% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,632 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new position in XOMA in the 1st quarter valued at about $212,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in XOMA by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 9,695 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in XOMA in the 3rd quarter valued at about $516,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in XOMA by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 62,656 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 1,968 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.92% of the company’s stock.

XOMA Stock Performance

Shares of XOMA opened at $29.88 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 7.52, a quick ratio of 7.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $351.99 million, a PE ratio of -8.59 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.86. XOMA has a 12-month low of $14.33 and a 12-month high of $33.78.

XOMA (NASDAQ:XOMA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by ($0.02). XOMA had a negative net margin of 151.34% and a negative return on equity of 24.95%. The firm had revenue of $11.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.37 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that XOMA will post -0.79 EPS for the current year.

About XOMA

XOMA Corporation operates as a biotech royalty aggregator in the United States and the Asia Pacific. It has a portfolio of economic rights to future potential milestone and royalty payments associated with partnered commercial and pre-commercial therapeutic candidates. The company also focuses on early to mid-stage clinical assets primarily in Phase 1 and 2 with commercial sales potential that are licensed to partners; and acquires milestone and royalty revenue streams on late-stage clinical or commercial assets.