Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS) Stock Price Up 5.8% – Time to Buy?

Erasca, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERAS) shares shot up 5.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $14.96 and last traded at $14.9440. Approximately 2,427,053 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 5,861,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ERAS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Erasca in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Erasca from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Erasca from $12.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Erasca from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, HSBC set a $20.00 price objective on Erasca in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.09.

Erasca Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a PE ratio of -15.73 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.90.

Erasca (NASDAQ:ERAS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by ($0.03). Sell-side analysts expect that Erasca, Inc. will post -0.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Erasca

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ERAS. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Erasca by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 24,975,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,545,000 after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Erasca during the second quarter worth about $387,544,000. Vivo Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Erasca by 31.0% during the first quarter. Vivo Capital LLC now owns 12,151,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,878,052 shares in the last quarter. Siren L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of Erasca by 28.4% in the first quarter. Siren L.L.C. now owns 11,244,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,932,000 after purchasing an additional 2,486,997 shares during the period. Finally, ARCH Venture Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Erasca in the second quarter valued at approximately $129,917,324. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.78% of the company’s stock.

Erasca Company Profile

Erasca, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing precision medicines for cancers driven by abnormal signaling in the RAS/MAPK pathway. The company’s research and development activities target tumors with RAS mutations or other alterations that can promote cancer growth and resistance to treatment.

Erasca’s pipeline has included naporafenib, an investigational pan-RAF inhibitor designed to block signaling downstream of RAF proteins, as well as other targeted therapies aimed at genetically defined cancer populations.