Spruce Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRB) Short Interest Up 461.7% in March

Spruce Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRB) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 189,300 shares, an increase of 461.7% from the February 29th total of 33,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SPRB shares. Guggenheim cut Spruce Biosciences from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Spruce Biosciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. JMP Securities reduced their price target on shares of Spruce Biosciences from $8.00 to $3.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. SVB Leerink downgraded shares of Spruce Biosciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Spruce Biosciences in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Spruce Biosciences has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.67.

Spruce Biosciences Stock Up 1.0 %

SPRB traded up $0.01 on Thursday, hitting $0.75. 557,758 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,215,867. Spruce Biosciences has a one year low of $0.68 and a one year high of $5.95. The company has a quick ratio of 4.18, a current ratio of 4.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.47.

Spruce Biosciences (NASDAQ:SPRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.41) by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.89 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 million. Spruce Biosciences had a negative net margin of 474.96% and a negative return on equity of 52.31%. On average, equities analysts expect that Spruce Biosciences will post -1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Holdings A/S Novo sold 359,979 shares of Spruce Biosciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.73, for a total transaction of $262,784.67. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,015,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,200,965.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 3,114,315 shares of company stock valued at $2,613,101 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spruce Biosciences

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Spruce Biosciences by 317.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 116,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 88,608 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Spruce Biosciences by 26.0% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 529,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after buying an additional 109,226 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Spruce Biosciences by 180.7% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 111,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 71,900 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Spruce Biosciences by 61.8% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 205,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 78,490 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Spruce Biosciences during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $331,000. 91.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Spruce Biosciences Company Profile

Spruce Biosciences, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing novel therapies for rare endocrine disorders. The company engages in developing tildacerfont, a non-steroidal therapy to enhance disease control and reduce steroid burden for patients suffering from congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), which is in Phase 2b clinical trial; and to evaluate glucocorticoid reduction in adult patients with classic CAH that is Phase 2b clinical trial.