Short Interest in Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCPH) Decreases By 5.1%

Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCPH) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,750,000 shares, a drop of 5.1% from the March 31st total of 6,060,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 525,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.9 days. Approximately 11.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Jonestrading reissued a “hold” rating and set a $25.60 price objective on shares of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays raised Deciphera Pharmaceuticals from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $26.00 in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $25.60 price target (down from $26.00) on shares of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Deciphera Pharmaceuticals from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.17.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Deciphera Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DCPH. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C boosted its position in shares of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 6,897,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,738,000 after purchasing an additional 190,580 shares during the period. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 5,200,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,876,000 after buying an additional 588,000 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Deciphera Pharmaceuticals by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,307,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,220,000 after buying an additional 290,968 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Deciphera Pharmaceuticals by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,561,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,191,000 after buying an additional 92,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. raised its holdings in Deciphera Pharmaceuticals by 176.2% during the fourth quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 1,021,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,482,000 after acquiring an additional 651,800 shares during the period. 70.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ DCPH traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $25.27. 4,960,319 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,169,447. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.06 and a beta of 0.39. Deciphera Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $9.90 and a one year high of $25.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.45.

Deciphera Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:DCPH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported ($0.54) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.58) by $0.04. Deciphera Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 49.44% and a negative net margin of 119.33%. The company had revenue of $48.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.60) earnings per share. Deciphera Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 32.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Deciphera Pharmaceuticals will post -2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Deciphera Pharmaceuticals

Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops drugs to enhance the lives of cancer patients by addressing key mechanisms of drug resistance that limit the rate and durability of response to existing cancer therapies in the United States and internationally. Its lead drug candidate is QINLOCK used for the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), as well as in INTRIGUE Phase 3 study to treat second-line GIST.