Precision BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTIL) Short Interest Up 21.7% in March

Precision BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTIL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 752,700 shares, a growth of 21.7% from the March 15th total of 618,300 shares. Approximately 21.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 468,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DTIL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Precision BioSciences from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $34.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Precision BioSciences in a research report on Friday, March 28th.

Institutional Trading of Precision BioSciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DTIL. Lynx1 Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Precision BioSciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,919,000. Citadel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Precision BioSciences by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 153,675 shares of the company's stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 56,400 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Precision BioSciences by 177.0% during the fourth quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 87,799 shares of the company's stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 56,100 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Precision BioSciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, Tang Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Precision BioSciences by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 673,332 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,565,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares during the period. 37.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Precision BioSciences Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:DTIL traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $5.50. 11,334 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 178,837. The company has a current ratio of 9.22, a quick ratio of 9.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm's fifty day moving average is $5.05 and its 200-day moving average is $5.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.97 million, a P/E ratio of 91.60 and a beta of 1.59. Precision BioSciences has a 12-month low of $3.61 and a 12-month high of $13.44.

Precision BioSciences (NASDAQ:DTIL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The company reported ($3.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.09) by ($1.11). Precision BioSciences had a negative return on equity of 23.69% and a net margin of 11.48%. The firm had revenue of $3.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.28 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Precision BioSciences will post -1.23 EPS for the current year.

Precision BioSciences Company Profile

Precision BioSciences, Inc, an advanced gene editing company, develops in vivo gene editing therapies for gene edits, including gene elimination, insertion, and excision in the United States. The company offers ARCUS, a genome editing platform to DNA genome insertion, deletion, and repair. It also provides PBGENE-HBV for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) to eliminate covalently closed circular DNA with direct cuts and edits as well as to inactivate integrated HBV DNA with the goal of long-lasting reductions in hepatitis B surface antigen; PBGENE-PMM for the treatment of m.3243 associated primary mitochondrial myopathy (PMM) which is expected to submit an IND and/or CTA.