Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRIS) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 105,458 shares, a decline of 97.0% from the June 30th total of 3,515,828 shares. Currently, 5.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 111,499 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days.

Curis Stock Up 4.7%

NASDAQ:CRIS traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $4.89. The company had a trading volume of 108,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 482,422. The company has a market capitalization of $9.54 million, a PE ratio of -0.21 and a beta of 3.08. Curis has a 52-week low of $3.61 and a 52-week high of $39.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $7.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.27.

Curis (NASDAQ:CRIS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The biotechnology company reported ($25.00) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($6.53) by ($18.47). As a group, research analysts forecast that Curis will post -25.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective (up from $17.00) on shares of Curis in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Curis in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Curis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Curis from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Curis currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.00.

Institutional Trading of Curis

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CRIS. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Curis by 52.2% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 366,740 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 125,823 shares during the last quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Curis by 83.4% in the 1st quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 109,746 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 49,900 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Curis in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Curis by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 86,483 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 27,343 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Curis by 71.8% during the 4th quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 25,323 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 10,586 shares during the period. 29.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Curis

Curis, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of targeted small molecule and antibody therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The company’s research centers on exploiting key signaling pathways and tumor microenvironment interactions to develop compounds with the potential to address unmet medical needs. Curis’ proprietary pipeline includes multiple programs at various stages of clinical and preclinical development, reflecting its emphasis on innovative oncology drug candidates.

Among Curis’ lead assets is CA-4948, an oral inhibitor of interleukin-1 receptor–associated kinase 4 (IRAK4) partnered with Ikena Oncology, which is being evaluated in hematologic malignancies and solid tumors.