Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS) Stock Falls 8.1% – What’s Next?

Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERAS)’s stock price traded down 8.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $15.20 and last traded at $15.4410. 363,784 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 94% from the average daily volume of 5,795,134 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ERAS. Guggenheim increased their price objective on Erasca from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Erasca from $12.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Erasca from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Erasca in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Erasca from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Erasca presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.09.

Erasca Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.83 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.98 and a 200 day moving average of $15.20.

Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by ($0.03). Sell-side analysts anticipate that Erasca, Inc. will post -0.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Erasca

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ERAS. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Erasca by 295.5% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 216,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,505,000 after purchasing an additional 161,845 shares in the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Erasca in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,162,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Erasca during the 2nd quarter worth about $55,853,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Erasca during the 2nd quarter worth about $387,544,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Erasca during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,500,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.78% of the company’s stock.

About Erasca

Erasca, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing medicines for cancer. Its research centers on the RAS/MAPK signaling pathway, which is involved in the growth of many tumors and can be difficult to target with existing therapies. The company’s pipeline includes investigational drug candidates designed to inhibit RAS proteins and other targets in the pathway. Erasca evaluates these candidates for potential use across multiple cancer types; its medicines remain in development rather than being marketed as approved treatments.