Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERAS) Short Interest Up 13.7% in April

Key Points

• Short interest rose 13.7% in April to 33,974,829 shares, representing 12.8% of the company's stock and a days-to-cover ratio of 6.1 based on average daily volume.
• Wall Street sentiment is a "Moderate Buy" (7 Buy, 1 Hold, 2 Sell) with an average target of $17.88; shares opened at $10.65, below the 50‑day average of $15.84 but above the 200‑day average of $9.03.
• Insiders sold a combined 100,000 shares (20,000 and 80,000) in March–April—including Ebun Garner's 76% reduction—though insiders still own 14.4% of the company.

Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERAS - Get Free Report) was the target of a large 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. Currently, 12.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,601,062 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ERAS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $10.00 target price on Erasca in a report on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Erasca in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Erasca in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Erasca from $12.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their target price on Erasca from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Erasca currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.88.

Erasca Price Performance

Shares of ERAS opened at $10.65 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.84 and a 200-day moving average of $9.03. The company has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a PE ratio of -24.20 and a beta of 1.04. Erasca has a one year low of $1.06 and a one year high of $24.28.

Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.01. Analysts expect that Erasca will post -0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Erasca

In other Erasca news, insider Shannon Morris sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.04, for a total transaction of $300,800.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ebun Garner sold 80,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider owned 25,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $411,246.40. This trade represents a 76.14% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 14.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Erasca

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ERAS. VR Adviser LLC increased its position in Erasca by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. VR Adviser LLC now owns 17,857,083 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,678,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640,867 shares during the period. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Erasca by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 14,159,095 shares of the company's stock worth $52,672,000 after acquiring an additional 599,078 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Erasca by 0.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,811,832 shares of the company's stock worth $27,930,000 after purchasing an additional 116,235 shares in the last quarter. Vivo Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Erasca by 37.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vivo Capital LLC now owns 9,273,428 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,216,000 after acquiring an additional 2,516,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Erasca by 53.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,174,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,970,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145,386 shares in the last quarter. 67.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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