Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERAS) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $5.81, but opened at $6.08. Erasca shares last traded at $6.3740, with a volume of 2,072,699 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Erasca in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $5.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Erasca in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho upped their target price on Erasca from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Erasca from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $6.00 price objective on shares of Erasca in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $4.44.

Erasca Trading Up 12.8%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $3.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.55 and a beta of 1.15.

Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.11). As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Erasca, Inc. will post -0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Ebun Garner sold 120,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 25,076 shares in the company, valued at approximately $140,174.84. This represents a 82.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 14.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Erasca

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Erasca by 233.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,677 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 34,072 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Erasca during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Vivo Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Erasca by 37.2% during the third quarter. Vivo Capital LLC now owns 9,273,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,216,000 after purchasing an additional 2,516,672 shares in the last quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Erasca by 13.9% in the third quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 13,560,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652,835 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Erasca by 43.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 350,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 105,982 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.78% of the company’s stock.

Erasca Company Profile

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.