Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTA) Short Interest Down 27.2% in February

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. Currently, 13.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 562,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

ENTA traded down $0.27 on Monday, reaching $6.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 171,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 490,781. Enanta Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $4.71 and a 1 year high of $17.80. The business’s 50 day moving average is $6.21 and its 200 day moving average is $8.62. The stock has a market cap of $136.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.29 and a beta of 0.48.

Enanta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ENTA) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The biotechnology company reported ($1.05) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by $0.11. Enanta Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 75.53% and a negative net margin of 157.57%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Enanta Pharmaceuticals will post -4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ENTA has been the subject of several recent research reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Enanta Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Enanta Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Enanta Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Jay R. Luly acquired 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $5.69 per share, for a total transaction of $256,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 846,638 shares in the company, valued at $4,817,370.22. This represents a 5.61 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 13.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Enanta Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 53.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 243,628 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,524,000 after purchasing an additional 85,082 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 192,856 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 49,050 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 294.2% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 27,438 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 20,478 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Enanta Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $122,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Enanta Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 477,351 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,946,000 after purchasing an additional 14,575 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

About Enanta Pharmaceuticals

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.