ESSA Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:EPIX) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

by · The Markets Daily

ESSA Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:EPIX – Get Free Report) (TSE:EPI) saw a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 901,200 shares, a decline of 5.3% from the December 15th total of 951,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 969,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days.

ESSA Pharma Price Performance

ESSA Pharma stock opened at $1.75 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $1.74 and its 200 day moving average is $4.05. ESSA Pharma has a 12-month low of $1.40 and a 12-month high of $11.67. The company has a market capitalization of $77.68 million, a PE ratio of -2.73 and a beta of 1.61.

ESSA Pharma (NASDAQ:EPIX – Get Free Report) (TSE:EPI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, December 17th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.05. Sell-side analysts expect that ESSA Pharma will post -0.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Growth N. V. Biotech sold 7,879,583 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.53, for a total transaction of $12,055,761.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 14.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of ESSA Pharma

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of ESSA Pharma by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC now owns 345,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,096,000 after buying an additional 93,830 shares in the last quarter. RTW Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of ESSA Pharma by 41.9% in the third quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 3,261,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,765,000 after buying an additional 962,834 shares in the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of ESSA Pharma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Magnus Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in ESSA Pharma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $99,000. 75.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler cut ESSA Pharma from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $15.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Oppenheimer lowered ESSA Pharma from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of ESSA Pharma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on EPIX

About ESSA Pharma

(Get Free Report)

ESSA Pharma Inc, a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, focuses the development of small molecule drugs for the treatment of prostate cancer. The company’s lead candidate EPI-7386, an androgen receptor based resistance mechanisms that develop in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer and metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.

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