Design Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DSGN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Design Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DSGN) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,120,000 shares, an increase of 6.1% from the October 15th total of 2,940,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 938,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 9.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Design Therapeutics Stock Performance

DSGN stock opened at $2.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.32 million, a PE ratio of -1.71 and a beta of 1.52. Design Therapeutics has a one year low of $1.94 and a one year high of $15.52. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $2.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.53.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on DSGN. Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Design Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 15th. SVB Leerink restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of Design Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Design Therapeutics from $7.00 to $4.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 14th. SVB Securities cut shares of Design Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $6.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, August 15th. Finally, Wedbush lowered shares of Design Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $19.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Design Therapeutics news, Director Deepa Prasad acquired 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $2.31 per share, with a total value of $27,720.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,806 shares in the company, valued at $54,991.86. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Deepa Prasad bought 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $2.31 per share, for a total transaction of $27,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,806 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,991.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Rodney W. Lappe acquired 21,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $2.35 per share, for a total transaction of $49,350.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 133,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $312,606.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 27.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Design Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Design Therapeutics by 1.7% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,599,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,177,000 after buying an additional 59,189 shares during the period. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Design Therapeutics by 54.0% in the first quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,500,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,227,778 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP boosted its stake in shares of Design Therapeutics by 60.8% during the third quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 2,512,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,931,000 after purchasing an additional 949,955 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Design Therapeutics by 21.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,551,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,946,000 after purchasing an additional 271,706 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Design Therapeutics by 16.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 999,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,137,000 after purchasing an additional 143,635 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.47% of the company’s stock.

Design Therapeutics Company Profile

Design Therapeutics, Inc a preclinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of therapies for the treatment of genetic diseases caused by nucleotide repeat expansions. The company's portfolio of products comprises Friedreich Ataxia, a monogenic, autosomal recessive, progressive multi-system disease that affects organ systems dependent on mitochondrial function, eventually leading to neurological, cardiac, and metabolic dysfunction; and Myotonic Dystrophy Type-1 (DM1), a dominantly-inherited, monogenic progressive neuromuscular disease affecting skeletal muscle, heart, brain, and other organs.