Precision BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTIL) Short Interest Update

Precision BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTIL) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 752,700 shares, an increase of 21.7% from the March 15th total of 618,300 shares. Approximately 21.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 468,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Precision BioSciences

In other Precision BioSciences news, insider J. Jefferson Smith sold 10,287 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.79, for a total value of $49,274.73. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 87,440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $418,837.60. This trade represents a 10.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Amoroso sold 36,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.67, for a total value of $172,033.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 107,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $500,096.29. This represents a 25.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,243 shares of company stock valued at $227,424 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 4.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DTIL. Lynx1 Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Precision BioSciences in the 4th quarter worth about $2,919,000. Citadel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Precision BioSciences by 58.0% in the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 153,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 56,400 shares during the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Precision BioSciences by 177.0% during the fourth quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 87,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 56,100 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Precision BioSciences during the fourth quarter worth about $211,000. Finally, Tang Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Precision BioSciences by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 673,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,565,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the period. 37.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on DTIL shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Precision BioSciences in a research report on Friday, March 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Precision BioSciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th.

Precision BioSciences Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ DTIL traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5.02. 99,004 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 178,941. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 9.22 and a current ratio of 9.22. Precision BioSciences has a 52-week low of $3.61 and a 52-week high of $13.44. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $5.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.96 million, a PE ratio of 83.68 and a beta of 1.59.

Precision BioSciences (NASDAQ:DTIL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The company reported ($3.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.09) by ($1.11). The business had revenue of $3.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 million. Precision BioSciences had a net margin of 11.48% and a negative return on equity of 23.69%. Analysts forecast that Precision BioSciences will post -1.23 EPS for the current year.

About Precision BioSciences

Precision BioSciences, Inc, an advanced gene editing company, develops in vivo gene editing therapies for gene edits, including gene elimination, insertion, and excision in the United States. The company offers ARCUS, a genome editing platform to DNA genome insertion, deletion, and repair. It also provides PBGENE-HBV for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) to eliminate covalently closed circular DNA with direct cuts and edits as well as to inactivate integrated HBV DNA with the goal of long-lasting reductions in hepatitis B surface antigen; PBGENE-PMM for the treatment of m.3243 associated primary mitochondrial myopathy (PMM) which is expected to submit an IND and/or CTA.