Gritstone bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRTS) Short Interest Update

Gritstone bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRTS) was the target of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 7,530,000 shares, an increase of 13.6% from the September 15th total of 6,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,090,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days. Currently, 6.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Gritstone bio Stock Down 12.5 %

GRTS opened at $0.06 on Thursday. Gritstone bio has a fifty-two week low of $0.05 and a fifty-two week high of $3.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 2.54 and a current ratio of 2.54. The company has a market capitalization of $6.51 million, a P/E ratio of -0.05 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $0.43 and a 200-day moving average of $0.65.

Gritstone bio (NASDAQ:GRTS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.28) by $0.12. Gritstone bio had a negative return on equity of 328.51% and a negative net margin of 910.50%. The company had revenue of $0.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Gritstone bio will post -0.79 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Gritstone bio

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Gritstone bio during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gritstone bio in the first quarter worth approximately $63,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gritstone bio in the first quarter worth approximately $70,000. Klingman & Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gritstone bio in the first quarter worth approximately $89,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Gritstone bio in the second quarter worth approximately $96,000. 48.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $0.50 price target (down from $4.00) on shares of Gritstone bio in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. JMP Securities downgraded Gritstone bio from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. B. Riley reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $1.00 price objective (down previously from $3.00) on shares of Gritstone bio in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Gritstone bio to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st.

About Gritstone bio

Gritstone bio, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in developing vaccine-based immunotherapy candidates against cancer and infectious diseases. Its primary product candidate is GRANITE, an individualized immunotherapy candidate, which is in Phase 2/3 clinical trials for the treatment of microsatellite stable colorectal cancers; and has completed Phase 1/2 clinical trials for treating solid tumors.