Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS) Trading 6.4% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERAS) rose 6.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $12.05 and last traded at $11.9610. Approximately 1,715,291 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 8,972,388 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.24.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ERAS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Erasca from $11.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $10.00 price target on Erasca in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Erasca from $5.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Erasca in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of Erasca in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $16.00 target price on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.22.

Erasca Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.34. The company has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.80 and a beta of 1.21.

Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11). As a group, equities research analysts expect that Erasca, Inc. will post -0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Ebun Garner sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.59, for a total value of $670,800.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 25,076 shares in the company, valued at $140,174.84. This trade represents a 82.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 14.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Erasca

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vivo Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Erasca by 37.2% during the third quarter. Vivo Capital LLC now owns 9,273,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,216,000 after acquiring an additional 2,516,672 shares in the last quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Erasca by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 13,560,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652,835 shares during the period. VR Adviser LLC increased its stake in Erasca by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. VR Adviser LLC now owns 17,857,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,678,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640,867 shares in the last quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Erasca by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 4,085,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,189,000 after buying an additional 744,268 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Erasca by 594.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 396,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 339,177 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.78% of the company’s stock.

About Erasca

Erasca, Inc is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of precision medicines for patients with cancer. The company focuses on small molecule therapeutics that target critical signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and survival, with a primary emphasis on inhibitors of the MAPK pathway. Erasca’s approach is designed to deliver oral, targeted therapies that address both oncogene‐driven and immuno‐oncology indications, aiming to improve outcomes for patients with unmet medical needs.

Erasca’s pipeline comprises multiple development candidates, including small molecule inhibitors engineered to disrupt key nodes in cancer cell signaling.