Analyst Update: Regeneron Pharma, Kite Pharma, E2open

Analysts are weighing in today on biopharmaceutical companies Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) and Kite Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:KITE), as well as cloud concern E2open Inc (NASDAQ:EOPN). Here's a quick look at today's brokerage notes on REGN, KITE, and EOPN.

• This morning, REGN and Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY) announced that their cholesterol drug, alirocumab, met its primary efficacy endpoints in two trials. Shortly after this news was released, Goldman Sachs bumped REGN's price target to $486 from $480 --never before seen territory -- and the security has benefited by adding 3% to trade at $415.55. Ten out of 17 covering analysts already rate the shares a "buy" or better, but the seven others maintain "hold" recommendations, and the consensus 12-month price target of $423.29 stands just 1.5% above current trading levels, meaning upgrades and/or additional price-target hikes could be coming. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc may also benefit from a short-squeeze situation, should its rally continue, as over 6% of its float is sold short -- a figure that represents exactly seven days' worth of pent-up buying power, at the security's average daily pace of trading.


• KITE's hot streak is continuing today, after Mizuho initiated coverage on the equity with a "buy" rating, pushing it over 11% higher to $78.98 -- after earlier topping out at an all-time high of $80.14. Since going public in late June, Kite Pharma Inc has more than tripled in value, and is now trading north of its consensus 12-month price target of $79.40. While good news for shareholders, this marks another bad day for the KITE shorts who have piled on recently..


• EOPN flopped to an all-time low of $5.21 today after its worse-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and revenue prompted negative analyst attention. Specifically, Canaccord Genuity and Benchmark both downgraded the stock to "hold" from "buy," with the former slashing its price target to $7 from $13, and the latter cutting its target to $6. Also weighing on E2open Inc -¬ which was last seen 37.46% lower at $5.51 -- is a downgrade to "market perform" from "outperform" at William Blair. The security's year-over-year decline is now nearly 78%, which should please a large portion of traders, as roughly 14.5% of EOPN's float is sold short.