Gritstone bio Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:GRTS)

Gritstone bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:GRTS) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 18,077 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,238% compared to the average volume of 1,351 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GRTS has been the subject of several analyst reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Gritstone bio in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. JMP Securities initiated coverage on Gritstone bio in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. They set a “mkt outperform” rating and a $4.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $6.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Gritstone bio during the fourth quarter valued at $26,496,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Gritstone bio by 221.5% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,213,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,116,000 after buying an additional 4,280,777 shares during the period. Redmile Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gritstone bio by 24.0% in the third quarter. Redmile Group LLC now owns 8,509,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,636,000 after acquiring an additional 1,648,900 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Gritstone bio by 453.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,512,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,949,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Gritstone bio by 740.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,060,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,947,000 after acquiring an additional 934,149 shares in the last quarter. 48.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gritstone bio Stock Down 8.2 %

Gritstone bio stock traded down $0.23 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $2.57. The stock had a trading volume of 2,234,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,033,168. The company has a current ratio of 3.20, a quick ratio of 3.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $252.04 million, a P/E ratio of -2.17 and a beta of 0.39. Gritstone bio has a 12 month low of $1.14 and a 12 month high of $3.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $2.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.05.

Gritstone bio (NASDAQ:GRTS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 5th. The company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.36) by $0.10. Gritstone bio had a negative return on equity of 147.22% and a negative net margin of 847.24%. The company had revenue of $10.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 million. Research analysts predict that Gritstone bio will post -0.94 EPS for the current year.

About Gritstone bio

Gritstone bio, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in developing vaccine-based immunotherapy candidates against cancer and infectious diseases. Its primary product candidate is GRANITE, an individualized immunotherapy candidate, which is in Phase 2/3 clinical trials for the treatment of microsatellite stable colorectal cancers; and has completed Phase 1/2 clinical trials for treating solid tumors.