Chimerix, Inc. (NASDAQ:CMRX) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Chimerix, Inc. (NASDAQ:CMRX - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,570,000 shares, a growth of 66.0% from the January 15th total of 2,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,390,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.8 days. Approximately 4.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMRX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $11.00 price target on shares of Chimerix in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $6.00 price target on shares of Chimerix in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

Chimerix Price Performance

Shares of CMRX stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Monday, reaching $4.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,216,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,344,052. The company has a market capitalization of $393.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.66 and a beta of 0.35. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $3.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.83. Chimerix has a 1-year low of $0.75 and a 1-year high of $4.65.

Insider Transactions at Chimerix

In other news, CEO Michael T. Andriole sold 7,370 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.52, for a total transaction of $33,312.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 609,603 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,755,405.56. This trade represents a 1.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 20,760 shares of company stock valued at $91,175 in the last 90 days. 13.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new position in shares of Chimerix during the 4th quarter worth about $535,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Chimerix by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,557,530 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $8,900,000 after acquiring an additional 161,795 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C acquired a new position in shares of Chimerix during the 4th quarter worth about $13,124,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Chimerix during the 4th quarter worth about $210,000. Finally, Boxer Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Chimerix during the 4th quarter worth about $7,169,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.42% of the company's stock.

About Chimerix

Chimerix, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops medicines to improve and extend the lives of patients facing deadly diseases. Its pipeline products include ONC201 a program that is in Phase 3 clinical trial for treating patients with H3 K27M-mutant diffuse glioma, as well as in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of rare neuroendocrine tumors; and ONC206, an imipridone, Dopamine Receptor D2 (DRD2) antagonist, and caseinolytic protease P (ClpP) agonist, which is in Phase 1 clinical trial for adult and pediatric patients with primary central nervous system tumors.