Kite Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:KITE) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Market Beat reports.

According to Zacks, “Kite posted a narrower-than-expected loss and higher-than-expected revenues in the third quarter of 2015. Importantly, the company is progressing with its pipeline and could be in a position to file a BLA for KTE-C19 in late 2016. Kite is focused on the development of immuno-oncology treatments and is looking to revolutionize cancer treatments by engaging the body’s own immune system to treat cancer. Kite uses eACT to genetically modify T cells to express either CARs or TCRs. The modified T-cells are designed to recognize and destroy cancer cells. Immuno-oncology is a hot therapeutic area with huge commercial potential. However, any setbacks in the development/regulatory process would weigh heavily on the stock.”

In other news, insider Margo R. Roberts sold 6,145 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.22, for a total value of $339,326.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $502,391.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jeffrey Wiezorek sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.26, for a total value of $497,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,742 shares in the company, valued at $759,382.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Canaccord Genuity restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Kite Pharma in a report on Friday, November 13th. FBR & Co. upped their target price on Kite Pharma from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 7th. Maxim Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $87.00 target price on shares of Kite Pharma in a report on Wednesday, January 20th. Standpoint Research downgraded Kite Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, November 13th. Finally, Mizuho reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Kite Pharma in a report on Friday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $86.90.

Kite Pharma (NASDAQ:KITE) traded down 2.31% during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $49.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,163,560 shares. The firm’s market cap is $2.20 billion. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.04 and a 200 day moving average of $65.53. Kite Pharma has a 52 week low of $44.01 and a 52 week high of $89.84.

Kite Pharma (NASDAQ:KITE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.64) by $0.26. The business had revenue of $5.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.06 million. The business’s revenue was up 50900.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Kite Pharma will post ($2.15) EPS for the current year.

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Kite Pharma stock. Meeder Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Kite Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:KITE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The hedge fund acquired 4,204 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Kite Pharma, Inc., is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. The Company is focused on the development and commercialization of cancer immunotherapy products to eradicate cancer cells. The Company does this using its engineered autologous cell therapy (NASDAQ:KITE), which is an approach to the treatment of cancer. eACT involves the genetic engineering of T cells to express either chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) or T cell receptors (TCRs). It is conducting a Phase II clinical trial of a TCR-based therapy and multiple Phase I-IIa clinical trials of CAR- and TCR-based therapies. The Company’s lead product candidate KTE-C19, is a CAR-based therapy, for the treatment of refractory diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL), primary mediastinal B cell lymphoma (PMBCL) and transformed follicular lymphoma (TFL). It is developing a pipeline of eACT-based product candidates for the treatment of advanced solid and hematological malignancies: CD19CAR, KTE-C19CAR and EGFRvlll CAR, among others.

12 Month Chart for NASDAQ:KITE

Get a free copy of the Zacks research report on Kite Pharma (KITE)

For more information about research offerings from Zacks Investment Research, visit Zacks.com

Receive News & Ratings for Kite Pharma Inc Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Kite Pharma Inc and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.