Stock Traders Buy High Volume of CytomX Therapeutics Put Options (NASDAQ:CTMX)

CytomX Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTMX) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 13,090 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 262% compared to the average daily volume of 3,621 put options.

Insider Activity at CytomX Therapeutics

In other CytomX Therapeutics news, CEO Sean A. Mccarthy sold 118,969 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.42, for a total transaction of $763,780.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,078,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,926,679.24. This represents a 9.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Yu-Waye Chu sold 21,279 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.42, for a total transaction of $136,611.18. Following the sale, the insider owned 189,446 shares in the company, valued at $1,216,243.32. This represents a 10.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 191,063 shares of company stock worth $1,226,624 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CytomX Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boothbay Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in CytomX Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,946,000. Baker BROS. Advisors LP raised its position in CytomX Therapeutics by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 4,250,826 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $13,560,000 after purchasing an additional 766,600 shares during the period. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in CytomX Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $756,000. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in CytomX Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,667,000. Finally, HighVista Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in CytomX Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $820,000. 67.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of CytomX Therapeutics from $6.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of CytomX Therapeutics from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of CytomX Therapeutics from $10.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of CytomX Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $7.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of CytomX Therapeutics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.44.

CytomX Therapeutics Price Performance

CytomX Therapeutics stock opened at $4.89 on Friday. CytomX Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.61 and a 1-year high of $8.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $832.21 million, a P/E ratio of -122.25 and a beta of 2.49. The company’s 50-day moving average is $4.94 and its 200 day moving average is $4.42.

CytomX Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CTMX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 16th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.14). CytomX Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 19.77% and a negative net margin of 22.79%.The firm had revenue of $0.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.33 million. Research analysts anticipate that CytomX Therapeutics will post -0.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About CytomX Therapeutics

CytomX Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of next-generation therapeutics based on its proprietary Probody® platform. The company engineers masked antibody prodrugs that remain inactive in healthy tissue but are selectively activated in the tumor microenvironment. This approach is designed to enhance the safety and tolerability of antibody-based therapies, particularly those targeting immuno-oncology pathways.

At the core of CytomX’s pipeline is Pacmilimab (CX-072), an anti–PD-L1 Probody therapeutic currently undergoing clinical evaluation for multiple solid tumor indications.