Benitec Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ:BNTC) Short Interest Up 17.6% in February

Benitec Biopharma Inc. (NASDAQ:BNTC) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 174,800 shares, an increase of 17.6% from the February 13th total of 148,700 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 49,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on BNTC shares. Baird R W raised Benitec Biopharma to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on Benitec Biopharma in a research note on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Benitec Biopharma in a report on Friday, February 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Benitec Biopharma has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $24.43.

Benitec Biopharma Stock Up 7.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ BNTC opened at $16.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $393.74 million, a PE ratio of -11.12 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $11.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.89. Benitec Biopharma has a fifty-two week low of $4.75 and a fifty-two week high of $16.88.

Benitec Biopharma (NASDAQ:BNTC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 14th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.55) by $0.19. On average, analysts anticipate that Benitec Biopharma will post -1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Benitec Biopharma

In related news, Director Suvretta Capital Management, L purchased 27,502 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $10.98 per share, for a total transaction of $301,971.96. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,981,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,639,340.50. This trade represents a 0.35 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Benitec Biopharma

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Acuta Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Benitec Biopharma in the 3rd quarter worth $274,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 138.4% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 35,476 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $448,000 after acquiring an additional 20,597 shares during the last quarter. 683 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Benitec Biopharma in the 4th quarter worth $452,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Benitec Biopharma by 54.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 38,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 13,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MYDA Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Benitec Biopharma during the fourth quarter valued at $632,000. Institutional investors own 52.19% of the company’s stock.

About Benitec Biopharma

Benitec Biopharma Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on the development of novel genetic medicines. The company develops DNA-directed RNA interference-based therapeutics for chronic and life-threatening human conditions. It is developing BB-301, an adeno-associated virus based gene therapy agent for treating oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy.