Short Interest in Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERAS) Rises By 13.7%

Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERAS) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 33,974,829 shares, an increase of 13.7% from the March 31st total of 29,886,446 shares. Approximately 12.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 5,601,062 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ERAS shares. Mizuho increased their target price on Erasca from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Erasca in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Guggenheim increased their target price on Erasca from $12.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Erasca from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Erasca in a report on Friday, March 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.88.

Erasca Stock Performance

Erasca stock opened at $10.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.80 and a beta of 0.68. Erasca has a fifty-two week low of $1.06 and a fifty-two week high of $24.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $15.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.07.

Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.01. Sell-side analysts predict that Erasca will post -0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Erasca

In other Erasca news, insider Ebun Garner sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total transaction of $1,312,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 25,076 shares in the company, valued at $411,246.40. This represents a 76.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Morris sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.04, for a total value of $300,800.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 14.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ERAS. Abel Hall LLC raised its position in Erasca by 8.1% during the first quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 16,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Erasca during the first quarter valued at about $534,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA purchased a new stake in Erasca during the first quarter valued at about $3,145,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Erasca by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 329,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 47,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Erasca during the fourth quarter valued at about $112,000. Institutional investors 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.