Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS) Trading Up 8.2% – Time to Buy?

Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERAS)’s share price shot up 8.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $17.70 and last traded at $17.9610. 926,465 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 6,390,951 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ERAS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Erasca in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Mizuho raised their price target on Erasca from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Erasca from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Erasca from $12.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Erasca from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.63.

Erasca Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.98. The firm has a market cap of $5.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.48 and a beta of 1.04.

Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.01. Research analysts anticipate that Erasca, Inc. will post -0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Shannon Morris sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.04, for a total value of $300,800.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Ebun Garner sold 120,000 shares of Erasca stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.59, for a total transaction of $670,800.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 25,076 shares in the company, valued at $140,174.84. This represents a 82.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 220,000 shares of company stock worth $2,283,600 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 14.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Erasca by 22.3% in the second quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 4,085,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,189,000 after acquiring an additional 744,268 shares during the period. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Erasca by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 22,729,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,866,000 after acquiring an additional 153,585 shares during the period. Velan Capital Investment Management LP raised its position in Erasca by 30.0% in the 2nd quarter. Velan Capital Investment Management LP now owns 65,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Erasca in the 2nd quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, Spruce Street Capital LP acquired a new stake in Erasca during the 4th quarter worth $14,469,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.78% of the company’s stock.

About Erasca

Erasca, Inc is a clinical?stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of precision medicines for patients with cancer. The company focuses on small molecule therapeutics that target critical signaling pathways involved in tumor growth and survival, with a primary emphasis on inhibitors of the MAPK pathway. Erasca’s approach is designed to deliver oral, targeted therapies that address both oncogene?driven and immuno?oncology indications, aiming to improve outcomes for patients with unmet medical needs.

Erasca’s pipeline comprises multiple development candidates, including small molecule inhibitors engineered to disrupt key nodes in cancer cell signaling.