(NASDAQ: ALLK) finished the trading week in style, with its stock price climbing by just under 9% on Friday. That was largely due to an analyst recommendation upgrade, which, in turn, was encouraged by strong quarterly results posted by the company. In contrast to Allakos' big gain on the day, the S 500 index slumped by almost 0.2%.

The prognosticator getting notably more bullish on Allakos was Jefferies' Maury Raycroft, who upped his recommendation on the clinical-stage biotech's stock to buy from his previous hold. He also made a considerable (50%) raise to his target price, hiking it from $6 per share to $9.

Raycroft is particularly encouraged by the upcoming readout of a phase 2b clinical trial of Allakos' lirentelimab investigational drug. The medication is being tested for efficacy in treating chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), an ailment in which hives are produced and vanish seemingly randomly on the body.

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Source Fool.com