Sagimet Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMT) Short Interest Up 31.3% in March

Sagimet Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:SGMT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,350,000 shares, an increase of 31.3% from the March 15th total of 1,790,000 shares. Currently, 19.4% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David Happel bought 12,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $5.27 per share, with a total value of $63,767.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,200 shares in the company, valued at $3,368,584. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SGMT. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in Sagimet Biosciences in the third quarter worth about $220,000. Platinum Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Sagimet Biosciences in the third quarter worth about $3,378,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Sagimet Biosciences during the third quarter worth about $158,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Sagimet Biosciences during the third quarter worth approximately $56,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sagimet Biosciences during the third quarter worth approximately $111,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Sagimet Biosciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SGMT traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $4.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 433,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 969,662. Sagimet Biosciences has a fifty-two week low of $2.13 and a fifty-two week high of $20.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.96 and a 200-day moving average of $5.95.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SGMT. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Sagimet Biosciences from $37.00 to $27.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. JMP Securities cut their price objective on shares of Sagimet Biosciences from $47.00 to $46.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Sagimet Biosciences in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, SVB Leerink began coverage on shares of Sagimet Biosciences in a research report on Monday, March 25th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $41.50.

About Sagimet Biosciences

Sagimet Biosciences Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops therapeutics called fatty acid synthase (FASN) inhibitors for the treatment of diseases that result from dysfunctional metabolic pathways in the United States. The company's lead drug candidate is Denifanstat, a once-daily pill and selective FASN inhibitor for the treatment of metabolic dysfunction associated steatohepatitis.