Precision BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTIL) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Precision BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTIL) saw a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 618,300 shares, a drop of 16.1% from the February 28th total of 736,600 shares. Approximately 17.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 478,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Precision BioSciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Precision BioSciences in a report on Friday, March 28th.

Precision BioSciences Price Performance

Shares of DTIL stock traded down $0.07 on Thursday, reaching $4.63. 12,816 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 169,642. Precision BioSciences has a 1 year low of $3.61 and a 1 year high of $15.97. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $5.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 9.22 and a current ratio of 9.22. The company has a market cap of $35.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.08 and a beta of 1.59.

Precision BioSciences (NASDAQ:DTIL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The company reported ($3.20) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.09) by ($1.11). The firm had revenue of $3.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.28 million. Precision BioSciences had a negative return on equity of 23.69% and a net margin of 11.48%. Equities research analysts forecast that Precision BioSciences will post -1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Precision BioSciences

In other news, CEO Michael Amoroso sold 36,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.67, for a total transaction of $172,033.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 107,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $500,096.29. This trade represents a 25.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider J. Jefferson Smith sold 10,287 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.79, for a total transaction of $49,274.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 87,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $418,837.60. This represents a 10.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,243 shares of company stock worth $227,424. 4.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Precision BioSciences

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lynx1 Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Precision BioSciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,919,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Precision BioSciences by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 702,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,322,000 after purchasing an additional 68,943 shares during the last quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Precision BioSciences by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 673,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,565,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Precision BioSciences by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 153,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 56,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Precision BioSciences by 36.2% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 109,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 29,200 shares during the period. 37.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Precision BioSciences

Precision BioSciences, Inc, an advanced gene editing company, develops in vivo gene editing therapies for gene edits, including gene elimination, insertion, and excision in the United States. The company offers ARCUS, a genome editing platform to DNA genome insertion, deletion, and repair. It also provides PBGENE-HBV for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) to eliminate covalently closed circular DNA with direct cuts and edits as well as to inactivate integrated HBV DNA with the goal of long-lasting reductions in hepatitis B surface antigen; PBGENE-PMM for the treatment of m.3243 associated primary mitochondrial myopathy (PMM) which is expected to submit an IND and/or CTA.