ProQR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PRQR) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

ProQR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PRQR - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 567,400 shares, a growth of 50.9% from the April 30th total of 376,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 588,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in ProQR Therapeutics by 699.3% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 91,120 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 79,720 shares in the last quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ProQR Therapeutics by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 3,284,512 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,368,000 after purchasing an additional 459,512 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC lifted its stake in ProQR Therapeutics by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 503,564 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $670,000 after purchasing an additional 52,261 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc purchased a new position in ProQR Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,461,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of ProQR Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $64,000. 32.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ProQR Therapeutics Stock Down 0.8%

PRQR traded down $0.02 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $1.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 122,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 486,826. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.17. ProQR Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $1.07 and a 1 year high of $4.62. The company has a market cap of $185.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.52 and a beta of 0.35.

ProQR Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PRQR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.02). ProQR Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 71.58% and a negative net margin of 134.31%. The business had revenue of $4.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ProQR Therapeutics will post -0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on PRQR. Chardan Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $4.00 target price on shares of ProQR Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on ProQR Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $8.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI started coverage on ProQR Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $5.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on ProQR Therapeutics from $15.00 to $9.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded ProQR Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $4.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $8.00.

About ProQR Therapeutics

ProQR Therapeutics N.V., a biotechnology company, focuses on the discovery and development of novel therapeutic medicines. The company's products pipeline includes AX-0810 for cholestatic diseases targeting Na-taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP); and AX-1412 for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) targeting Beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase 1 (B4GALT1).