Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:EPRX) Sees Strong Trading Volume - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals’ trading volume surged 160% to 793,460 shares, while the stock fell 3.1% to $8.08 from its prior close of $8.16.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $17.80, although Weiss Ratings maintains a “sell” rating.
• The clinical-stage biotech recently beat quarterly EPS estimates, reporting a loss of $0.23 versus the expected $0.25, and has attracted significant institutional investment, including a 429.7% stake increase by Affinity Asset Advisors.

Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:EPRX - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday. 793,460 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 160% from the previous session's volume of 305,001 shares. The stock last traded at $8.08 and had previously closed at $8.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EPRX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $25.00 target price on Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wedbush started coverage on Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $17.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer started coverage on Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $17.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $17.80.

Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 16.00 and a quick ratio of 16.00. The company has a market capitalization of $514.31 million, a P/E ratio of -7.75 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average of $7.15 and a 200-day moving average of $7.00.

Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:EPRX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.25) by $0.02. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -0.85 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EPRX. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals by 429.7% in the 1st quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 1,589,005 shares of the company's stock worth $11,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289,005 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,851,000. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at about $5,137,000. Redmile Group LLC bought a new position in Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $5,068,000. Finally, Rubric Capital Management LP bought a new position in Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $5,004,000.

Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals Inc NASDAQ: EPRX is a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in Canada. The company develops locally administered therapies intended to treat inflammatory, fibrotic and other diseases while limiting patients' exposure to medication throughout the body.

Eupraxia's development programs are built around its proprietary Diffusion Driven Drug Delivery (3D) platform. The technology is designed to provide controlled, sustained release of pharmaceutical compounds at targeted sites, potentially extending treatment effects and reducing systemic side effects.

The company's lead product candidate, EP-104I, is an extended-release formulation of fluticasone propionate being developed for intra-articular administration in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.