Short Interest in Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ:AGEN) Drops By 94.6%

Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ:AGEN) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,590,000 shares, a decrease of 94.6% from the March 31st total of 47,720,000 shares. Approximately 13.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 665,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Agenus Stock Up 40.8 %

Shares of Agenus stock opened at $11.69 on Friday. Agenus has a 12 month low of $4.78 and a 12 month high of $42.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.73.

Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($2.60) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($2.20). The company had revenue of $83.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.21 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Agenus will post -8.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Agenus

In related news, insider Garo H. Armen bought 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $13.00 per share, with a total value of $325,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 31,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $406,874. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Agenus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Agenus by 3,008.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,306,248 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after acquiring an additional 2,232,064 shares during the last quarter. Braidwell LP increased its position in shares of Agenus by 34.3% in the third quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 6,307,030 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $7,127,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609,100 shares during the last quarter. Pennant Investors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Agenus in the fourth quarter valued at about $389,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Agenus by 1.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,938,439 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $30,440,000 after acquiring an additional 432,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LP increased its position in shares of Agenus by 247.3% in the third quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 390,234 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 277,863 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AGEN shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Agenus in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. B. Riley decreased their price objective on Agenus from $120.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Agenus in a research report on Thursday, March 14th.

About Agenus

Agenus Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, discovers and develops immuno-oncology products in the United States and internationally. The company offers Retrocyte Display, an antibody expression platform for the identification of fully human and humanized monoclonal antibodies; and display technologies.