Humacyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUMA) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Humacyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUMA) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 16,030,000 shares, an increase of 14.4% from the September 15th total of 14,010,000 shares. Currently, 16.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,130,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Humacyte Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of HUMA stock traded up $0.11 on Wednesday, hitting $5.81. 3,740,722 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,260,759. The stock has a market capitalization of $691.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.81 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.88. Humacyte has a one year low of $1.96 and a one year high of $9.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 5.41 and a current ratio of 5.41.

Humacyte (NASDAQ:HUMA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.04). Equities analysts forecast that Humacyte will post -1.09 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kathleen Sebelius sold 5,182 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.40, for a total transaction of $27,982.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 40,276 shares in the company, valued at $217,490.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Laura E. Niklason sold 157,704 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.42, for a total value of $854,755.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,519,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,076,004.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kathleen Sebelius sold 5,182 shares of Humacyte stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.40, for a total value of $27,982.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 40,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $217,490.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,084,153 shares of company stock worth $6,869,996 in the last quarter. 23.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Humacyte

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Humacyte during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Humacyte by 65.9% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 19,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 7,897 shares during the period. Hartline Investment Corp bought a new stake in Humacyte in the 1st quarter worth $70,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Humacyte in the second quarter valued at about $83,000. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Humacyte during the second quarter valued at about $97,000. 44.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HUMA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. EF Hutton Acquisition Co. I raised Humacyte to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Humacyte from $8.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Humacyte in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $13.00 price target on shares of Humacyte in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.80.

Humacyte Company Profile

Humacyte, Inc engages in the development and manufacture of off-the-shelf, implantable, and bioengineered human tissues for the treatment of diseases and conditions across a range of anatomic locations in multiple therapeutic areas. The company using its proprietary and scientific technology platform to engineer and manufacture human acellular vessels (HAVs) to be implanted into patient without inducing a foreign body response or leading to immune rejection.