Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:TERN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:TERN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,760,000 shares, a growth of 41.4% from the August 31st total of 2,660,000 shares. Approximately 6.4% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,950,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Terns Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.4 %

NASDAQ TERN opened at $8.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $601.41 million, a P/E ratio of -6.79 and a beta of -0.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.08. Terns Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $3.26 and a 12-month high of $11.40.

Terns Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TERN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by $0.04. Sell-side analysts predict that Terns Pharmaceuticals will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Terns Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Carl L. Gordon sold 50,976 shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $509,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 756,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,562,580. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Carl L. Gordon sold 50,976 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $509,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 756,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,562,580. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark J. Vignola sold 10,000 shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.00, for a total value of $110,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 91,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,011,340. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 84,354 shares of company stock valued at $839,288. 15.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Terns Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Terns Pharmaceuticals by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 20,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 2,261 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals by 66.3% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 4,742 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals by 28.7% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 22,645 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 5,049 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Terns Pharmaceuticals by 17.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 64,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 9,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Terns Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $72,000. 98.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TERN. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective (up previously from $19.00) on shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.90.

About Terns Pharmaceuticals

Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops small-molecule product candidates for the treatment of oncology, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and obesity. The company develops TERN-701, an allosteric BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) that is in phase 1 clinical trial for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a form of cancer that starts in bone marrow.