Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:TERN) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:TERN) was the target of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,390,000 shares, an increase of 35.4% from the November 15th total of 3,980,000 shares. Currently, 8.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on TERN shares. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective (up from $19.00) on shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, September 16th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $7.50 price target on shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.30.

Terns Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TERN traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $6.73. The stock had a trading volume of 2,110,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,727,995. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.54. Terns Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $4.32 and a twelve month high of $11.40.

Terns Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TERN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.05. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Terns Pharmaceuticals will post -1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Amy L. Burroughs bought 15,450 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $7.15 per share, with a total value of $110,467.50. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 19,099 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $136,557.85. This represents a 423.40 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 15.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals by 12.3% during the first 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Terns Pharmaceuticals by 56.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 176,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after buying an additional 64,018 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Terns Pharmaceuticals by 50.3% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 88,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $604,000 after buying an additional 29,659 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals by 17.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 64,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 9,635 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Terns Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 371,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,534,000 after acquiring an additional 31,875 shares in the last quarter. 98.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.