Rapt Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RAPT) Sees Strong Trading Volume Following Analyst Upgrade

Rapt Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RAPT) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday after HC Wainwright raised their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $72.00. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 397,802 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 127% from the previous session’s volume of 175,359 shares.The stock last traded at $30.24 and had previously closed at $29.53.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen raised Rapt Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Rapt Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $48.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Rapt Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Rapt Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $16.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, UBS Group set a $9.00 price objective on Rapt Therapeutics and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of Rapt Therapeutics by 53.9% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 89,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,000 after acquiring an additional 31,287 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Rapt Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth about $188,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Rapt Therapeutics by 411.7% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 58,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 47,391 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Rapt Therapeutics in the 1st quarter worth about $143,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Rapt Therapeutics by 112.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 150,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 79,967 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.09% of the company’s stock.

Rapt Therapeutics Trading Up 1.9%

The company has a market cap of $497.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.12 and a beta of 0.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $20.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.94.

Rapt Therapeutics (NASDAQ:RAPT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.65) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.61) by ($0.04). On average, research analysts forecast that Rapt Therapeutics will post -2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Rapt Therapeutics

RAPT Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage immunology-based biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovery, development, and commercialization of oral small molecule therapies for patients with unmet needs in oncology and inflammatory diseases in the United States. The company's lead inflammation drug candidate is zelnecirnon (RPT193), a C-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) antagonist that selectively inhibit the migration of type 2 T helper cells into inflamed tissues.