Short Interest in NextCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTC) Expands By 734.7%

NextCure, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTC) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 11,134,379 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.1 days. Currently, 41.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

NextCure Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NextCure stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $4.24. 281,180 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,228,785. NextCure has a twelve month low of $1.55 and a twelve month high of $15.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.98. The company has a market cap of $15.31 million, a PE ratio of -0.25 and a beta of 1.42.

NextCure (NASDAQ:NXTC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($1.87) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.10) by $0.23. As a group, equities research analysts predict that NextCure will post -7.89 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on NXTC shares. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of NextCure in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NextCure from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings cut NextCure from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of NextCure from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Two investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NextCure has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.00.

Institutional Trading of NextCure

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of NextCure by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 3,636 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of NextCure by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 33,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in NextCure during the 4th quarter valued at about $160,000. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of NextCure during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $185,000. Finally, Affinity Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of NextCure by 28.9% during 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 42.65% of the company’s stock.

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.