Short Interest in Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:TERN) Expands By 47.8%

Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:TERN) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,660,000 shares, a growth of 47.8% from the August 15th total of 1,800,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 5.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Terns Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.41 on Monday, hitting $9.36. 169,297 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,241,676. Terns Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $3.26 and a one year high of $11.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $8.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.94. The company has a market capitalization of $605.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.07 and a beta of -0.37.

Terns Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TERN) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by $0.04. Equities research analysts anticipate that Terns Pharmaceuticals will post -1.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Carl L. Gordon sold 50,976 shares of the company’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 value of $509,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 accessible through this link. In related news, Director Carl L. Gordon sold 50,976 shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $509,760.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 756,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,562,580. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Mark J. Vignola sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.00, for a total transaction of $110,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 84,354 shares of company stock worth $839,288. Insiders own 15.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Terns Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake 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 worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 2,261 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Terns Pharmaceuticals by 66.3% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 4,742 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 5,049 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 64,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 9,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Terns Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $72,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on TERN. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target (up previously from $19.00) on shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.