Protara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TARA) Price Target Raised to $27.00 at HC Wainwright

Key Points

• HC Wainwright raised its price target on Protara Therapeutics to $27.00 and kept a "buy" rating, implying roughly a 433.6% upside from the stock's current level (~$5.06).
• Analyst coverage is mixed but leaning positive — MarketBeat shows a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $24.75 (one Strong Buy, four Buy/Overweight, one Sell).
• Protara trades around $5.06 with a market cap of about $278.6M; it reported a quarterly EPS loss of ($0.37) (missing estimates) and analysts forecast a -1.58 EPS for the fiscal year.

Protara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TARA - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by investment analysts at HC Wainwright from $23.00 to $27.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. HC Wainwright's target price points to a potential upside of 433.60% from the stock's current price.

TARA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Protara Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Protara Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Protara Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Protara Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $24.75.

Protara Therapeutics Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Protara Therapeutics stock opened at $5.06 on Wednesday. Protara Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $2.77 and a 1 year high of $7.82. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $5.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.71. The company has a market cap of $278.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.83 and a beta of 1.50.

Protara Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TARA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The company reported ($0.37) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.34) by ($0.03). As a group, research analysts forecast that Protara Therapeutics will post -1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jacqueline Zummo sold 22,598 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.26, for a total value of $118,865.48. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 95,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $504,754.86. This represents a 19.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 12.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Protara Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Protara Therapeutics by 8.2% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 34,137 shares of the company's stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 2,596 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Protara Therapeutics by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,736 shares of the company's stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 4,383 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of Protara Therapeutics by 35.8% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 19,558 shares of the company's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 5,154 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Protara Therapeutics by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 102,499 shares of the company's stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in Protara Therapeutics by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 24,184 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 6,838 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 38.13% of the company's stock.

About Protara Therapeutics

Protara Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel immunotherapies for virus-driven cancers. The company's primary areas of research include human papillomavirus (HPV)–associated malignancies, where it seeks to harness and enhance the body's immune response to target tumor cells. Protara's therapeutic strategy combines antigen-specific vaccination approaches with modulators of T-cell activation to improve clinical outcomes in patients with HPV-mediated disease.

Protara's lead immunotherapy candidate is PTX-35, an investigational monoclonal antibody designed to agonize OX40, a co-stimulatory receptor on T cells.

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