Rapt Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RAPT) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of Rapt Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RAPT) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $33.18, but opened at $35.18. Rapt Therapeutics shares last traded at $33.71, with a volume of 20,832 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Leerink Partners upgraded Rapt Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Friday, September 26th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Rapt Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Cowen began coverage on shares of Rapt Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Rapt Therapeutics in a report on Monday, October 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Rapt Therapeutics from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.50.

Rapt Therapeutics Trading Up 4.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $960.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.13 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $30.64 and its 200 day moving average is $19.16.

Rapt Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RAPT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.65) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by $0.23. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rapt Therapeutics will post -2.14 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rapt Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Rapt Therapeutics by 408.4% in the first quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 5,970,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,284,000 after acquiring an additional 4,796,455 shares in the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Rapt Therapeutics by 303.1% in the 1st quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 5,012,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,116,000 after purchasing an additional 3,769,414 shares in the last quarter. Boone Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Rapt Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $20,180,000. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rapt Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $188,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Rapt Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,625,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.09% of the company’s stock.

About Rapt Therapeutics

RAPT Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage immunology-based biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovery, development, and commercialization of oral small molecule therapies for patients with unmet needs in oncology and inflammatory diseases in the United States. The company's lead inflammation drug candidate is zelnecirnon (RPT193), a C-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) antagonist that selectively inhibit the migration of type 2 T helper cells into inflamed tissues.