Short Interest in Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTA) Decreases By 27.2%

Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTA) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,600,000 shares, a drop of 27.2% from the February 13th total of 3,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 562,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days. Currently, 13.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.6 %

Enanta Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $6.65. The company had a trading volume of 344,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 497,793. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $6.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.65. Enanta Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $4.71 and a 12 month high of $17.80. The company has a market capitalization of $141.86 million, a PE ratio of -1.34 and a beta of 0.48.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENTA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.05) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.11. Enanta Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 157.57% and a negative return on equity of 75.53%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Enanta Pharmaceuticals will post -4.65 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Enanta Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Jay R. Luly purchased 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $5.69 per share, for a total transaction of $256,050.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 846,638 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,370.22. The trade was a 5.61 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 13.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Enanta Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ENTA. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 4,933.7% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,329 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 4,243 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 65.0% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 19,123 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $198,000 after buying an additional 7,535 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Enanta Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $122,000. Valence8 US LP purchased a new stake in Enanta Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 18.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 49,301 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $511,000 after buying an additional 7,839 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ENTA. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Enanta Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Enanta Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.25.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biotechnology company, discovers and develops small molecule drugs for the treatment of viral infections and liver diseases. Its product pipeline comprises EDP-514, which is in phase 1b clinical development for the treatment of chronic infection with hepatitis B virus or HBV; EDP-938 and EDP-323, which is in phase II clinical development for the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus; EDP-235, which is in phase II clinical development for the treatment of human coronaviruses; and Glecaprevir, which is in the market for the treatment of chronic infection with hepatitis C virus or HCV.