Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS) Stock Price Down 6.3% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Shares fell 6.3% to about $21.06 on Friday with volume roughly 1.72M shares (down ~73% from the average), while the company has a market cap of $6.76B and a negative P/E.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans positive: MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" (7 Buys, 1 Hold, 2 Sells) even though the consensus price target of $16.63 is below the current share price.
• Insiders have been selling (Ebun Garner sold 80,000 shares at $16.40 and Shannon Morris sold 20,000 at $15.04), while institutional investors own about 67.78% of the company.

Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERAS - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 6.3% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $20.72 and last traded at $21.06. Approximately 1,718,662 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 6,418,334 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.47.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ERAS shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Erasca from $11.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Erasca from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Erasca in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Erasca from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Erasca in a report on Friday, March 13th. Seven investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Erasca presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $16.63.

Erasca Trading Down 3.2%

The company's fifty day moving average is $15.66 and its 200 day moving average is $8.62. The company has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -49.40 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Erasca news, insider Ebun Garner sold 80,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 25,076 shares of the company's stock, valued at $411,246.40. This trade represents a 76.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Shannon Morris sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.04, for a total transaction of $300,800.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 14.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Erasca

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. VR Adviser LLC boosted its stake in shares of Erasca by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. VR Adviser LLC now owns 17,857,083 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,678,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640,867 shares in the last quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Erasca by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 14,159,095 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,672,000 after purchasing an additional 599,078 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Erasca by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,811,832 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,930,000 after purchasing an additional 116,235 shares in the last quarter. Vivo Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Erasca by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vivo Capital LLC now owns 9,273,428 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,216,000 after purchasing an additional 2,516,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Erasca by 53.2% during the 4th 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. 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.

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