Zevra Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ZVRA) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Zevra Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ZVRA) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on ZVRA. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Zevra Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of Zevra Therapeutics from $29.00 to $24.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Zevra Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. JMP Securities reduced their price target on shares of Zevra Therapeutics from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on Zevra Therapeutics from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Zevra Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.80.

Zevra Therapeutics Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of NASDAQ ZVRA opened at $8.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 7.81 and a current ratio of 7.85. Zevra Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $6.19 and a 1 year high of $13.16. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.58. The firm has a market cap of $495.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.95 and a beta of 1.52.

Zevra Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ZVRA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.03. Zevra Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 112.40% and a net margin of 4.33%.The firm had revenue of $26.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.64 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Zevra Therapeutics will post -1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Zevra Therapeutics

In related news, Director John B. Bode bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.16 per share, for a total transaction of $45,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $412,200. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Neil F. Mcfarlane sold 19,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.82, for a total value of $210,990.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 222,016 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,402,213.12. This represents a 8.07% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 2.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Zevra Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ZVRA. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in Zevra Therapeutics by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 4,615,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,571,000 after purchasing an additional 476,032 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Zevra Therapeutics by 15.2% during the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 4,168,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,720,000 after buying an additional 550,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Zevra Therapeutics by 4.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,083,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,323,000 after buying an additional 130,676 shares during the period. Rubric Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Zevra Therapeutics by 60.8% during the second quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 1,958,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,253,000 after buying an additional 740,584 shares during the period. Finally, AIGH Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Zevra Therapeutics by 82.4% in the 1st quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC now owns 1,438,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,771,000 after buying an additional 649,495 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.03% of the company’s stock.

About Zevra Therapeutics

Zevra Therapeutics, Inc discovers and develops various proprietary prodrugs to treat serious medical conditions in the United States. The company develops its products through Ligand Activated Therapy platform. Its lead product candidate is KP1077, consisting of KP1077IH, which is under Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia, and KP1077N, which is under Phase ½ clinical trial to treat narcolepsy.