Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Erasca Call Options (NASDAQ:ERAS)

Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERAS) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 7,426 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 144% compared to the average volume of 3,041 call options.

Erasca Stock Up 7.7%

Shares of Erasca stock traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $14.72. 1,632,278 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,645,761. The company has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.83 and a beta of 0.73. Erasca has a 1 year low of $1.21 and a 1 year high of $24.28. The business has a fifty day moving average of $13.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.39.

Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.60) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.48). As a group, research analysts predict that Erasca will post -0.55 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Erasca from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $9.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Erasca in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Erasca in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Erasca from $12.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Erasca from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ebun Garner sold 80,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total value of $1,312,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 25,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $411,246.40. The trade was a 76.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 14.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Erasca

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ERAS. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Erasca in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,600,000. Vivo Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Erasca by 31.0% in the 1st quarter. Vivo Capital LLC now owns 12,151,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,878,052 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Erasca by 89.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,055,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,444,000 after buying an additional 1,444,047 shares during the last quarter. Stempoint Capital LP acquired a new position in Erasca in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,881,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new position in shares of Erasca in the 1st quarter valued at $59,988,000. 67.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Erasca Company Profile

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.