Precision BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTIL) Short Interest Up 21.7% in March

Precision BioSciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTIL - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 752,700 shares, an increase of 21.7% from the March 15th total of 618,300 shares. Currently, 21.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 468,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DTIL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Precision BioSciences in a research report on Friday, March 28th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Precision BioSciences from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Precision BioSciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lynx1 Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Precision BioSciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,919,000. Tang Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Precision BioSciences by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 673,332 shares of the company's stock worth $2,565,000 after purchasing an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Precision BioSciences by 58.0% in the 4th quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 153,675 shares of the company's stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 56,400 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Precision BioSciences by 36.2% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 109,798 shares of the company's stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 29,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Precision BioSciences by 177.0% in the fourth quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 87,799 shares of the company's stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 56,100 shares in the last quarter. 37.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Precision BioSciences Trading Down 3.2 %

DTIL stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Thursday, reaching $5.50. 37,347 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 430,143. Precision BioSciences has a 1 year low of $3.61 and a 1 year high of $13.44. The company has a current ratio of 9.22, a quick ratio of 9.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $5.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.70 and a beta of 1.59.

Precision BioSciences (NASDAQ:DTIL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The company reported ($3.20) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.09) by ($1.11). The firm had revenue of $3.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.28 million. Precision BioSciences had a negative return on equity of 23.69% and a net margin of 11.48%. On average, research analysts predict that Precision BioSciences will post -1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

About Precision BioSciences

Precision BioSciences, Inc, an advanced gene editing company, develops in vivo gene editing therapies for gene edits, including gene elimination, insertion, and excision in the United States. The company offers ARCUS, a genome editing platform to DNA genome insertion, deletion, and repair. It also provides PBGENE-HBV for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) to eliminate covalently closed circular DNA with direct cuts and edits as well as to inactivate integrated HBV DNA with the goal of long-lasting reductions in hepatitis B surface antigen; PBGENE-PMM for the treatment of m.3243 associated primary mitochondrial myopathy (PMM) which is expected to submit an IND and/or CTA.