On Wednesday the 12th of April, 2017, the Chairman & CEO of Agenus Inc. picked up shares in his own company. He made two large buys with a total value of $330,000 over the past couple of days according to the filing (filing 1 & filing 2). Our system alerted us yesterday after market close of this insider trade.

What’s our take on this trade?

When we look at the chart of $AGEN we notice one thing that worries us. The stock recently dropped through a multiple bottom, which is usually a very negative sign. Overall, it seems to be trending down very clearly since October last year. On the other hand, our system didn’t alert us for no reason. It is a double insider purchase from a good insider. He has purchased more shares in the past and most of the time the stock went up afterwards. Furthermore, we see a good amount of volume of this stock so we don’t have to worry about not being able to sell shares if it isn’t going to be a success. The low average volatility worries us a little bit, but still we feel that it is worth a shot. We are buying and hoping to get a quick profit of around 8% to 10%. At the same time we will set a stop loss at $3.00 and will keep an eye at this trade. If it doesn’t go up in the coming days, close your position and move on to the next trade.

More information on Agenus Inc.

Agenus Inc., a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company, focuses on the discovery and development of therapies that engage the body’s immune system for patients suffering with cancer. The company offers Retrocyte Display, an antibody discovery platform for the identification of fully-human and humanized monoclonal antibodies; SECANT yeast display, an antibody discovery platform used for the generation of novel monoclonal antibodies; and phage display technologies. It is also developing checkpoint modulating antibody candidates targeting GITR, OX40, TIM-3, and LAG-3. In addition, the company develops vaccine programs, such as Prophage cancer vaccine candidate; AutoSynVax, a synthetic cancer vaccine program targeting the neo-epitope landscape in cancer patients; and PhosPhoSynVax, a vaccine candidate designed to induce immunity against a novel class of tumor specific neo-epitopes. Further, Agenus Inc. develops QS-21 Stimulon, a saponin-based vaccine adjuvant that has completed Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of malaria and shingles. The company was formerly known as Antigenics Inc. and changed its name to Agenus Inc. in January 2011. Agenus Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts.