Passage Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:PASG) Short Interest Up 113.0% in April

Passage Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ:PASG) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 145,029 shares, an increase of 113.0% from the April 15th total of 68,090 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 206,812 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days. Approximately 4.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Passage Bio Stock Performance

Passage Bio stock opened at $5.22 on Friday. Passage Bio has a one year low of $3.93 and a one year high of $20.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.76 million, a P/E ratio of -0.44 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.18.

Passage Bio (NASDAQ:PASG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported ($2.36) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.76) by $0.40. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Passage Bio will post -8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Passage Bio

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Passage Bio by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 133,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,049,000 after buying an additional 24,523 shares during the period. Yiheng Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Passage Bio in the fourth quarter worth about $405,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Passage Bio in the fourth quarter worth approximately $148,000. Eversept Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Passage Bio in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,490,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Passage Bio by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 4,114 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $8.00 target price (down from $32.00) on shares of Passage Bio in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Passage Bio from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, May 3rd. TD Cowen cut Passage Bio from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Passage Bio in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Passage Bio from $67.00 to $23.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Passage Bio presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.25.

About Passage Bio

Passage Bio is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of gene therapies to treat rare, monogenic central nervous system and neuromuscular disorders. The company applies its in-house gene therapy platform to design and engineer adeno-associated virus (AAV)–based vectors that restore or replace defective genes, aiming to deliver durable treatments with a single administration.

The company’s lead programs include PBGM01, an AAV9-based therapy for GM2 gangliosidoses (Tay–Sachs and Sandhoff diseases), which is conducting a first-in-human study to assess safety and potential therapeutic benefit.