NextCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

NextCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 213,309 shares, an increase of 102.7% from the September 15th total of 105,240 shares. Currently, 6.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 114,775 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Insider Transactions at NextCure

In related news, major shareholder Adar1 Capital Management, Llc bought 292,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $4.93 per share, with a total value of $1,443,750.50. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 686,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,382,551.88. This trade represents a 74.47% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders acquired 346,761 shares of company stock valued at $1,710,807 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NextCure

An institutional investor recently raised its position in NextCure stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of NextCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTC) by 80.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,534 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 26,900 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 1.68% of NextCure worth $647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 42.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NextCure Price Performance

Shares of NXTC traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $6.34. The stock had a trading volume of 6,947 shares, compared to its average volume of 732,337. NextCure has a 1-year low of $1.55 and a 1-year high of $15.74. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.49. The company has a market cap of $22.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.73 and a beta of 1.33.

NextCure (NASDAQ:NXTC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($2.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.95) by ($0.85).

Analyst Ratings Changes

NXTC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised NextCure from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings raised NextCure from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of NextCure in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NextCure currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.00.

About NextCure

NextCure, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel immunotherapies for cancer. The company’s research is centered on treatments designed to stimulate or restore the immune system’s ability to recognize and attack tumor cells, with the goal of addressing limitations associated with existing cancer immunotherapies.

NextCure’s pipeline has included investigational antibody-based therapies and other immune-modulating programs targeting mechanisms that can suppress immune responses in the tumor microenvironment.