Chimerix, Inc. (NASDAQ:CMRX) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Chimerix, Inc. (NASDAQ:CMRX) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,410,000 shares, a drop of 27.9% from the February 28th total of 4,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,850,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.9 days. Currently, 4.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on CMRX shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $8.50 price objective (down previously from $10.00) on shares of Chimerix in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Chimerix in a report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $8.55 price objective (up from $7.00) on shares of Chimerix in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $8.55 target price (down from $11.00) on shares of Chimerix in a report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Chimerix Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CMRX opened at $8.51 on Tuesday. Chimerix has a 1-year low of $0.75 and a 1-year high of $8.53. The business’s 50 day moving average is $5.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $798.27 million, a P/E ratio of -9.05 and a beta of 0.32.

Chimerix (NASDAQ:CMRX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, March 21st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $0.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.31 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Chimerix will post -0.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Chimerix

In related news, CEO Michael T. Andriole sold 7,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.52, for a total transaction of $33,312.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 609,603 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,755,405.56. This trade represents a 1.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,760 shares of company stock valued at $91,175. 13.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Chimerix by 66.8% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 344,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 138,098 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Chimerix by 154.8% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 817,739 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,846,000 after purchasing an additional 496,823 shares during the last quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Chimerix by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC now owns 44,305 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 8,134 shares during the period. Peapod Lane Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Chimerix during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,626,000. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Chimerix by 78.8% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 146,186 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $509,000 after buying an additional 64,420 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.42% of the company’s stock.

About Chimerix

Chimerix, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops medicines to improve and extend the lives of patients facing deadly diseases. Its pipeline products include ONC201 a program that is in Phase 3 clinical trial for treating patients with H3 K27M-mutant diffuse glioma, as well as in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of rare neuroendocrine tumors; and ONC206, an imipridone, Dopamine Receptor D2 (DRD2) antagonist, and caseinolytic protease P (ClpP) agonist, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial for adult and pediatric patients with primary central nervous system tumors.