Precision BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTIL) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Precision BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTIL) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 306,700 shares, a growth of 11.7% from the December 15th total of 274,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 418,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.7 days. Currently, 8.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Precision BioSciences

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Precision BioSciences stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Precision BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTIL) by 10.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 702,069 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 68,943 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned approximately 9.15% of Precision BioSciences worth $6,322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 37.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on DTIL. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Precision BioSciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Precision BioSciences in a report on Friday, January 10th.

Precision BioSciences Stock Up 5.1 %

NASDAQ:DTIL traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $4.96. 183,493 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 183,149. The company has a market cap of $38.04 million, a PE ratio of 82.68 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 9.22 and a quick ratio of 9.22. Precision BioSciences has a one year low of $3.61 and a one year high of $19.43. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.11.

About Precision BioSciences

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.