Nasdaq‘s latest short interest data for the 7/31/2014 settlement date shows a relatively large increase in short interest for shares of CTI BioPharma Corp (CTIC). As of July 31-st, ticker’s short interest totaled 16,071,744 shares, as compared to 13,753,721 shares since July 15th, an increase of more than 2.3 million shares, or 16.85%. Average daily share volume [AVM] for the same period fell from 1,644,404 shares to 1,160,872 shares.
Based on the latest AVM, the days-to-cover ratio, a metric that includes both the total shares short and the average daily volume of shares traded, is currently 13.8 days. Days-to-cover for CTIC increased by more than 5 days for the July 31 settlement date, as compared to 8.3 days at the July 15 report. CTI BioPharma Corp. has a beta of 1.64 and a short float of 11.20%.
Earlier this month CTIC was raised to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ and had its $4.50 price target reiterated at WallachBeth Capital. The equity research firm believes ticker’s current price-per-share represents an opportunity for sophisticated investors to accumulate shares.
Shares of CTI BioPharma Corp. traded as high as $2.66 Friday, before ending the day at $2.57. Over the last 52 weeks, the stock has been trading between $1.06 and $4.25. More recently in the last 4 weeks, the name has been trading between $2.55 and $2.65.
CTIC is currently printing a one year return of about 134% and a year-to-date return of around 34.55%. The chart below shows where the stock of the $371.24 million market cap company has traded over the last 52 weeks, with the 50-day and 200-day MAs included.
CTI BioPharma Corp. is a biopharmaceutical company founded in 1991 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
Disclosure: No Position
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