Barclays Reaffirms Equal Weight Rating for Rapt Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RAPT)

Rapt Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RAPT)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reiterated by research analysts at Barclays in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $58.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 0.69% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on RAPT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Rapt Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen lowered Rapt Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Rapt Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Piper Sandler lowered Rapt Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Rapt Therapeutics from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.44.

Rapt Therapeutics Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:RAPT traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $57.61. The company had a trading volume of 1,275,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,803,641. The stock has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.21 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $33.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.72. Rapt Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $5.67 and a 52-week high of $57.62.

Rapt Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RAPT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.65) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by $0.23. Research analysts forecast that Rapt Therapeutics will post -2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rapt Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RAPT. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Rapt Therapeutics by 411.7% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 58,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 47,391 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Rapt Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $188,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Rapt Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $231,000. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Rapt Therapeutics by 680.3% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 28,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $743,000 after purchasing an additional 25,116 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Rapt Therapeutics by 32.0% in the third quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 20,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $532,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. 99.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Rapt Therapeutics News

Here are the key news stories impacting Rapt Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: GSK agreed to buy RAPT for $2.2 billion in cash at $58.00 per share, giving RAPT shareholders a guaranteed cash exit and validating the value of ozureprubart as a strategic asset for a large pharma buyer. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction: shares jumped sharply on the takeover news (reports show a ~60–65% surge around the announcement), reflecting investor enthusiasm for the premium cash offer. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Strategic rationale: GSK gains rights to a late‑stage food‑allergy candidate (ozureprubart) to bolster its immunology/respiratory pipeline; the deal is strategic for GSK but removes RAPT’s standalone growth option. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Price/target implications: several research shops set price targets near $58 or downgraded coverage to “hold”/“equal weight” after the offer — reflecting the limited upside while the deal is pending. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder litigation and fairness probes: multiple law firms have announced investigations and potential class actions alleging the sale price or process may not be fair to public shareholders; this could delay closing or create additional costs/settlement risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Potential deal friction: competing buyer interest, regulatory review, or litigation could affect timing and certainty of the cash closing; until the transaction is completed, shares trade around the deal price with takeover risk. Read More.

Rapt Therapeutics Company Profile

RAPT Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ:RAPT) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel therapeutics for autoimmune and allergic diseases. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in San Diego, California, RAPT applies tissue-selective immunology to design small molecule and biologic candidates that modulate immune cell trafficking and tissue-resident pathways. The company’s research platform enables the identification of targets that drive tissue inflammation with the goal of achieving improved efficacy and safety profiles over current therapies.

The company’s lead asset, RPT193, is an orally available antagonist of the CC chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4), currently in clinical development for atopic dermatitis and allergic asthma.