Leap Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPTX) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Leap Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPTX) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,810,000 shares, a growth of 147.4% from the March 15th total of 1,540,000 shares. Currently, 12.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,490,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LPTX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird downgraded Leap Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $9.00 to $1.25 in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Leap Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Baird R W cut Leap Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th.

Leap Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of LPTX stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $0.37. 193,642 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 811,814. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.19 and a beta of 0.22. Leap Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $0.22 and a 12-month high of $4.79. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $0.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.93.

Leap Therapeutics (NASDAQ:LPTX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.02. On average, research analysts expect that Leap Therapeutics will post -1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Leap Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gilead Sciences Inc. acquired a new position in Leap Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,293,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Leap Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,025,000. Monaco Asset Management SAM purchased a new stake in shares of Leap Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $592,000. BIT Capital GmbH raised its stake in shares of Leap Therapeutics by 248.2% during the fourth quarter. BIT Capital GmbH now owns 282,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 201,008 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Leap Therapeutics by 251.1% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 185,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 132,805 shares during the period. 30.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Leap Therapeutics

Leap Therapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, acquires and develops antibody therapies for the treatment of cancer. Its lead product candidates include DKN-01, a monoclonal antibody that inhibits Dickkopf-related protein 1, which is in multiple ongoing clinical trials for treating esophagogastric and gynecologic cancers; and FL-301, a monoclonal antibody that targets cells that express Claudin18.2 on their cell surface and is in phase II clinical trial, as well as two preclinical antibody programs, FL-302 and FL-501.