NextCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

NextCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTC) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,323,834 shares, an increase of 734.7% from the June 30th total of 158,592 shares. Approximately 41.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 11,134,379 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.1 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NextCure

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NXTC. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NextCure by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 3,636 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in NextCure by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 33,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in NextCure in the 4th quarter valued at about $160,000. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in NextCure in the 4th quarter valued at about $185,000. Finally, Affinity Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in NextCure by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 247,294 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,509,000 after purchasing an additional 55,412 shares in the last quarter. 42.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NextCure Price Performance

NXTC stock opened at $4.24 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.95. NextCure has a 12 month low of $1.55 and a 12 month high of $15.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.31 million, a PE ratio of -0.25 and a beta of 1.42.

NextCure (NASDAQ:NXTC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($1.87) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.10) by $0.23. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that NextCure will post -7.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut NextCure from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of NextCure in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings cut NextCure from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised NextCure from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.00.

About NextCure

NextCure, Inc is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel immune modulators for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases. Leveraging its proprietary Therapeutic Discovery Engine (TDE™), the company aims to identify, validate and optimize new targets in the immune response pathway. NextCure’s research platform integrates large‐scale proteomics and functional genomics to accelerate the progression of promising therapeutic candidates from early discovery through clinical development.

The company’s pipeline includes multiple product candidates in various stages of preclinical and clinical evaluation.