Cidara Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDTX) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Cidara Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDTX) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 77,100 shares, an increase of 113.6% from the December 15th total of 36,100 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 65,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CDTX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of Cidara Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Cidara Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, December 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Cidara Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. WBB Securities boosted their price target on Cidara Therapeutics from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Cidara Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.20.

Institutional Trading of Cidara Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CDTX. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cidara Therapeutics by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,898 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 9,771 shares in the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Cidara Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $7,558,000. Finally, Checkpoint Capital L.P. boosted its position in Cidara Therapeutics by 25.5% during the third quarter. Checkpoint Capital L.P. now owns 182,426 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,961,000 after acquiring an additional 37,009 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.82% of the company’s stock.

Cidara Therapeutics Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of Cidara Therapeutics stock traded up $0.83 during trading on Thursday, hitting $21.25. 113,494 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 140,249. Cidara Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $10.00 and a fifty-two week high of $28.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $20.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.83 and a beta of 0.98.

About Cidara Therapeutics

Cidara Therapeutics, Inc, a biotechnology company, focuses on developing targeted therapies for patients facing cancers and other serious diseases. The company's product includes rezafungin acetate, a novel molecule in the echinocandin class of antifungals for the treatment and prevention of invasive fungal infections, including candidemia and invasive candidiasis, which are fungal infections associated with high mortality rates.