Verity Asset Management Inc. Sells 6,213 Shares of Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. $HALO

Verity Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) by 11.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,295 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 6,213 shares during the period. Halozyme Therapeutics makes up about 2.1% of Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Halozyme Therapeutics were worth $5,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HALO. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Halozyme Therapeutics by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 2,281,615 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $251,890,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052,509 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Halozyme Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $214,504,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Halozyme Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $196,540,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Halozyme Therapeutics by 12.4% during the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,810,815 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $141,732,000 after purchasing an additional 200,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Halozyme Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $105,570,000. Institutional investors own 97.79% of the company’s stock.

Halozyme Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ HALO opened at $130.34 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.31. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.50. Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.22 and a 12-month high of $134.00. The firm has a market cap of $14.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.91, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.92.

Halozyme Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HALO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.79 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $481.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $402.28 million. Halozyme Therapeutics had a return on equity of 260.98% and a net margin of 24.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. will post 8.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Halozyme Therapeutics news, Director Matthew L. Posard sold 5,230 shares of Halozyme Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.54, for a total value of $567,664.20. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 53,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,818,720.86. The trade was a 8.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Helen Torley sold 20,000 shares of Halozyme Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.40, for a total value of $2,188,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 767,780 shares in the company, valued at $83,995,132. This trade represents a 2.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 125,852 shares of company stock valued at $13,538,046. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on HALO. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Halozyme Therapeutics from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Halozyme Therapeutics from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Halozyme Therapeutics from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Halozyme Therapeutics from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Halozyme Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.64.

Halozyme Therapeutics Company Profile

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing drug-delivery technologies that can improve the administration of injectable medicines. The company’s primary platform, ENHANZE, uses a proprietary recombinant human hyaluronidase enzyme to facilitate the subcutaneous delivery of biologic drugs and other injectable therapies that may otherwise require intravenous infusion.

Halozyme licenses its technologies to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, which use them in a range of marketed and investigational products.