Cue Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUE) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Cue Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUE) saw a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 702,198 shares, a growth of 111.4% from the September 15th total of 332,105 shares. Currently, 11.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 666,076 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cue Biopharma news, insider Sumita Ray sold 8,829 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.09, for a total transaction of $265,664.61. Following the sale, the insider owned 118,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,567,019.05. This trade represents a 6.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Shao-Lee Lin sold 40,000 shares of Cue Biopharma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.10, for a total value of $1,084,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 724,253 shares in the company, valued at $19,627,256.30. This represents a 5.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 72,715 shares of company stock valued at $2,041,555 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 14.56% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cue Biopharma

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Cue Biopharma during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,824,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cue Biopharma during the second quarter valued at $1,742,000. Citadel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Cue Biopharma by 301.8% in the 2nd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 25,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $809,000 after acquiring an additional 38,333 shares during the period. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc purchased a new position in Cue Biopharma in the 2nd quarter worth $722,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Cue Biopharma in the 2nd quarter worth $389,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.04% of the company’s stock.

Cue Biopharma Trading Down 11.0%

Shares of CUE traded down $2.71 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.90. 120,614 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 352,602. Cue Biopharma has a 1 year low of $4.97 and a 1 year high of $45.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.04 and its 200-day moving average is $75.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $158.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.81 and a beta of 2.62.

Cue Biopharma (NASDAQ:CUE) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The company reported ($24.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.69) by ($22.45). Cue Biopharma had a negative return on equity of 620.06% and a negative net margin of 435.83%. The business had revenue of $7.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.00 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cue Biopharma will post -21.79 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CUE shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Cue Biopharma from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cue Biopharma from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 26th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cue Biopharma to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, B. Riley Financial initiated coverage on shares of Cue Biopharma in a report on Friday, September 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.00.

About Cue Biopharma

Cue Biopharma, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing targeted immunotherapies for cancer and other serious diseases. The company’s approach is based on its proprietary Immuno-STAT (Selective Targeting of Antigenic T cells) platform, which is designed to selectively activate and expand disease-specific T cells in the body while potentially reducing the broad immune activation associated with some conventional immunotherapies.

Cue Biopharma’s pipeline includes biologic product candidates intended to target cancer-associated antigens.