Short Interest in Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERAS) Grows By 9.0%

Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERAS) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 21,810,000 shares, a growth of 9.0% from the June 30th total of 20,010,000 shares. Currently, 13.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 9.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on ERAS shares. HC Wainwright dropped their price objective on shares of Erasca from $8.00 to $5.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Erasca from $7.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.00.

Erasca Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ERAS opened at $3.15 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $2.57 and a 200-day moving average of $2.21. Erasca has a 12 month low of $1.51 and a 12 month high of $3.45.

Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by ($0.02). As a group, equities research analysts predict that Erasca will post -0.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Alexander W. Casdin bought 80,000 shares of Erasca stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $2.27 per share, with a total value of $181,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 573,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,302,920.98. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 21.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Erasca

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Erasca by 50.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 392,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 131,829 shares in the last quarter. Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Erasca by 41.2% during the 2nd quarter. Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Erasca by 286.5% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 346,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 257,174 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Erasca by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,338,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,937,000 after acquiring an additional 545,765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in Erasca during the 1st quarter worth approximately $216,000. 67.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Erasca Company Profile

Erasca, Inc, a clinical-stage precision oncology company, focuses on discovering, developing, and commercializing therapies for patients with RAS/MAPK pathway-driven cancers. The company's lead product is naporafenib which is in phase 1b trial for patients with RAS Q16X solid tumors and plans to initiate a pivotal Phase 3 trial for patients with NRASm melanoma.