Gritstone bio (NASDAQ:GRTS) Raised to Strong-Buy at Evercore ISI

Gritstone bio (NASDAQ:GRTS) was upgraded by research analysts at Evercore ISI to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on GRTS. JMP Securities lowered Gritstone bio from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday. B. Riley reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1.00 price objective (down from $3.00) on shares of Gritstone bio in a report on Wednesday. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and set a $0.50 target price (down previously from $4.00) on shares of Gritstone bio in a research note on Tuesday.

Gritstone bio Stock Performance

Shares of GRTS stock opened at $0.21 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $0.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $0.84. Gritstone bio has a one year low of $0.18 and a one year high of $3.33. The stock has a market cap of $22.37 million, a P/E ratio of -0.17 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 2.54.

Gritstone bio (NASDAQ:GRTS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by $0.12. Gritstone bio had a negative net margin of 910.50% and a negative return on equity of 328.51%. The business had revenue of $0.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Gritstone bio will post -0.88 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gritstone bio

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GRTS. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in Gritstone bio during the first quarter worth about $63,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gritstone bio during the 1st quarter worth approximately $636,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gritstone bio by 7.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,733,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,166,000 after purchasing an additional 317,499 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Gritstone bio by 4,598.5% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 553,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 541,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gritstone bio in the first quarter valued at approximately $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 48.46% of the company’s stock.

About Gritstone bio

Gritstone bio, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in developing vaccine-based immunotherapy candidates against cancer and infectious diseases. Its primary product candidate is GRANITE, an individualized immunotherapy candidate, which is in Phase 2/3 clinical trials for the treatment of microsatellite stable colorectal cancers; and has completed Phase 1/2 clinical trials for treating solid tumors.