NextCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTC) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Up 102.7% in September

NextCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTC) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 213,309 shares, a growth of 102.7% from the September 15th total of 105,240 shares. Approximately 6.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 114,775 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Insider Activity at NextCure

In related news, major shareholder Adar1 Capital Management, Llc acquired 292,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.93 per share, with a total value of $1,443,750.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 686,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,382,551.88. This trade represents a 74.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have acquired 346,761 shares of company stock valued at $1,710,807 in the last 90 days. 11.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NextCure

An institutional investor recently raised its stake in NextCure stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of NextCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTC) by 80.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,534 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 26,900 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 1.68% of NextCure worth $647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 42.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NXTC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of NextCure from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of NextCure in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of NextCure from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.00.

NextCure Trading Up 4.0%

NXTC stock traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $6.84. 54,755 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 729,143. NextCure has a 12 month low of $1.55 and a 12 month high of $15.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.71 million, a P/E ratio of -0.79 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.46.

NextCure (NASDAQ:NXTC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($2.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.95) by ($0.85).

About NextCure

NextCure, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel immunotherapies for cancer. The company’s research is centered on treatments designed to stimulate or restore the immune system’s ability to recognize and attack tumor cells, with the goal of addressing limitations associated with existing cancer immunotherapies.

NextCure’s pipeline has included investigational antibody-based therapies and other immune-modulating programs targeting mechanisms that can suppress immune responses in the tumor microenvironment.