Purple Biotech Ltd. Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:PPBT) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Purple Biotech Ltd. Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:PPBT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 49,071 shares, an increase of 557.7% from the May 14th total of 7,461 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 676,551 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days. Approximately 3.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on PPBT. Weiss Ratings raised Purple Biotech from a “sell (e)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. HC Wainwright cut their price target on Purple Biotech from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Purple Biotech from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Purple Biotech presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.00.

Purple Biotech Price Performance

Shares of Purple Biotech stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $1.60. 298,106 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 166,692. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 million, a P/E ratio of -0.08 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $3.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.27. Purple Biotech has a 1-year low of $1.42 and a 1-year high of $29.00.

Purple Biotech (NASDAQ:PPBT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, May 16th. The company reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by $0.29. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Purple Biotech will post -5.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Purple Biotech

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Purple Biotech stock. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Purple Biotech Ltd. Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:PPBT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 47,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC owned approximately 0.37% of Purple Biotech at the end of the most recent reporting period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.64% of the company’s stock.

About Purple Biotech

Purple Biotech Ltd., a clinical-stage company, focuses on developing therapies to overcome tumor immune evasion and drug resistance for cancer patients in the United States. Its oncology pipeline includes CM24, a humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks the interactions of carcinoembryonic antigen related cell adhesion molecule 1 as a combination therapy with anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; NT219, a small molecule that targets and inhibits insulin receptor substrate 1 and 2, and signal transducer and activator of transcription, which is in Phase 1/2 clinical trials for the treatment recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck cancer or colorectal adenocarcinoma; and IM1240, a multi-valent antibody designed to activate anti-tumoral immune response against 5T4-positive tumors, which is in preclinical stage.