Cue Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUE) Shares Shorted: Short Interest Up 111.4% in September

Cue Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:CUE) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 702,198 shares, a growth of 111.4% from the September 15th total of 332,105 shares. Approximately 11.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 666,076 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Cue Biopharma Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CUE traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 141,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 352,522. Cue Biopharma has a 1-year low of $4.97 and a 1-year high of $45.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $27.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.71. The firm has a market cap of $136.77 million, a P/E ratio of -0.69 and a beta of 2.62.

Cue Biopharma (NASDAQ:CUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 14th. The company reported ($24.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.69) by ($22.45). Cue Biopharma had a negative return on equity of 620.06% and a negative net margin of 435.83%. The business had revenue of $7.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.00 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Cue Biopharma will post -21.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cue Biopharma

In other Cue Biopharma news, insider Sumita Ray sold 8,829 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.09, for a total transaction of $265,664.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 118,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,567,019.05. This trade represents a 6.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Shao-Lee Lin sold 18,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.62, for a total transaction of $522,543.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 705,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,205,576.90. The trade was a 2.52% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 72,715 shares of company stock valued at $2,041,555 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 14.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cue Biopharma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cue Biopharma in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,824,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cue Biopharma in the second quarter worth $1,742,000. Citadel Advisors LLC increased its position in Cue Biopharma by 301.8% in the second quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 25,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $809,000 after buying an additional 38,333 shares during the period. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc bought a new stake in Cue Biopharma in the second quarter valued at $722,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in Cue Biopharma in the second quarter valued at $389,000. 35.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. B. Riley Financial assumed coverage on shares of Cue Biopharma in a research report on Friday, September 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research raised Cue Biopharma to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Weiss Ratings cut Cue Biopharma from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Cue Biopharma from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.00.

Cue Biopharma Company Profile

Cue Biopharma, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing targeted immunotherapies for cancer and other serious diseases. The company’s approach is based on its proprietary Immuno-STAT (Selective Targeting of Antigenic T cells) platform, which is designed to selectively activate and expand disease-specific T cells in the body while potentially reducing the broad immune activation associated with some conventional immunotherapies.

Cue Biopharma’s pipeline includes biologic product candidates intended to target cancer-associated antigens.