Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS) Shares Up 8.8% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Shares jumped about 9% to roughly $16 in mid-day trading as several analysts raised price targets (Piper Sandler $18, HC Wainwright $20, JPMorgan $25) and the consensus rating is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $15.33.
• Company fundamentals: Erasca is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical with a market cap of ~$4.97 billion, a negative PE (-36.34), 50-day/200-day SMAs of $12.46/$6.24, and it slightly beat quarterly EPS estimates (loss of $0.10 vs. -$0.11 expected).
• Insider and institutional activity: notable insider selling occurred (general counsel sold 120,000 shares at $5.59), insiders own 14.4% of the stock and institutional investors hold about 67.8%.

Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERAS - Get Free Report) traded up 8.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $16.16 and last traded at $15.9650. 3,762,044 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 6,580,536 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Erasca from $11.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" 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. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Erasca from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Erasca from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Erasca from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Erasca has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.33.

Erasca Stock Up 9.0%

The firm has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a PE ratio of -36.34 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.24.

Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.01. Equities analysts forecast that Erasca, Inc. will post -0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Erasca news, General Counsel Ebun Garner sold 120,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.59, for a total value of $670,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 25,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at $140,174.84. The trade was a 82.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Shannon Morris sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.04, for a total transaction of $300,800.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 14.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ERAS. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Erasca during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Stifel Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Erasca during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Erasca during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Mariner LLC purchased a new position in shares of Erasca during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of Erasca in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. 67.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Erasca Company Profile

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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