Orchestra BioMed Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:OBIO) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest
by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat GemOrchestra BioMed Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:OBIO – Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 957,939 shares, an increase of 20.6% from the March 15th total of 794,502 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 239,186 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, insider David P. Hochman purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.29 per share, for a total transaction of $42,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,086,467 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,660,943.43. This represents a 0.93% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 8.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Institutional Trading of Orchestra BioMed
Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Orchestra BioMed by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,481,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,675,000 after buying an additional 324,558 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Orchestra BioMed in the third quarter valued at $3,386,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Orchestra BioMed in the third quarter valued at $2,495,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Orchestra BioMed by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 473,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,965,000 after acquiring an additional 86,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Orchestra BioMed by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 263,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 83,349 shares during the last quarter. 53.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities analysts recently issued reports on OBIO shares. Wall Street Zen raised Orchestra BioMed from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Orchestra BioMed from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Orchestra BioMed in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Chardan Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Orchestra BioMed in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Orchestra BioMed has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.25.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on OBIO
Orchestra BioMed Stock Up 2.5%
Shares of NASDAQ OBIO traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $4.58. The company had a trading volume of 128,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 150,660. The company has a market capitalization of $268.02 million, a PE ratio of -4.05 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.16. Orchestra BioMed has a 1-year low of $2.20 and a 1-year high of $5.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 6.45 and a quick ratio of 6.43.
Orchestra BioMed (NASDAQ:OBIO – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.38) by $0.64. Orchestra BioMed had a negative return on equity of 184.17% and a negative net margin of 157.40%.The firm had revenue of $30.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.93 million. On average, analysts predict that Orchestra BioMed will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current year.
About Orchestra BioMed
Orchestra BioMed, Inc (NASDAQ: OBIO) is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing targeted therapies for inflammatory, fibrotic and oncologic diseases. The company’s research focuses on novel small-molecule programs designed to address high‐unmet-need conditions by leveraging proprietary prodrug and targeted inhibitor platforms. Orchestra BioMed’s pipeline includes lead candidates such as OBI-3424, a prodrug activated by AKR1C3 for the treatment of select solid tumors, and next-generation modulators aimed at suppressing pathological inflammation and fibrosis.
Orchestra BioMed conducts early‐ and mid-stage clinical studies in North America, working closely with key opinion leaders and academic centers to advance its programs.