Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Humacyte (NASDAQ:HUMA)

Humacyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUMA) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 4,104 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 152% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,627 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on HUMA. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $2.00 target price on shares of Humacyte in a report on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Humacyte from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. D. Boral Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Humacyte in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. HC Wainwright upped their target price on Humacyte from $3.00 to $4.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on Humacyte to $2.00 and gave the stock a “speculative buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.57.

Humacyte Price Performance

NASDAQ:HUMA opened at $1.06 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.32, a current ratio of 3.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.46. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $0.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.85 and a beta of 2.45. Humacyte has a 12-month low of $0.55 and a 12-month high of $2.84.

Humacyte (NASDAQ:HUMA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $0.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 million. Humacyte had a negative return on equity of 2,914.18% and a negative net margin of 4,836.06%. On average, analysts anticipate that Humacyte will post -0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Dale A. Sander sold 45,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.90, for a total value of $41,298.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 267,213 shares in the company, valued at $240,491.70. The trade was a 14.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Kathleen Sebelius purchased 56,818 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $0.88 per share, for a total transaction of $49,999.84. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 148,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $130,262. This represents a 62.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Humacyte

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Humacyte by 5,308.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,639,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,516,000 after purchasing an additional 2,590,394 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Humacyte by 129.5% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,631,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,528,000 after purchasing an additional 1,485,152 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Humacyte by 48.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,978,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,862,000 after purchasing an additional 976,275 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Humacyte by 33.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,948,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,163,000 after purchasing an additional 738,142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Humacyte by 298.7% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 729,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 546,491 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 44.71% of the company’s stock.

Humacyte Company Profile

Humacyte, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development and manufacturing of off-the-shelf, regenerative human acellular vessels (HAVs) designed to address critical vascular access needs. The company’s proprietary vessels are engineered from human donor cells and then decellularized to create a biocompatible scaffold capable of integrating with a patient’s own tissue. Humacyte’s primary business activities encompass process development, large-scale manufacturing, and clinical evaluation of HAVs for use in end-stage renal disease, peripheral arterial disease and other vascular repair applications.

The company’s lead product candidate, the HAV, has advanced through multiple clinical trials for arteriovenous access in hemodialysis patients, demonstrating durability, reduced infection rates and compatibility with repeated cannulation.