Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Xeris Biopharma (NASDAQ:XERS)

Xeris Biopharma Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:XERS) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 2,121 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 399% compared to the typical volume of 425 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on XERS shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Xeris Biopharma in a report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Xeris Biopharma from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays initiated coverage on Xeris Biopharma in a research report on Monday, December 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $9.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Xeris Biopharma from $6.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Xeris Biopharma in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Xeris Biopharma presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Xeris Biopharma

In related news, insider John Patrick Shannon, Jr. sold 23,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.46, for a total transaction of $173,385.32. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 2,643,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,717,921.38. This represents a 0.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Barbara-Jean A. Bormann-Kennedy sold 15,000 shares of Xeris Biopharma stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.09, for a total transaction of $106,350.00. Following the sale, the director owned 142,500 shares in the company, valued at $1,010,325. This represents a 9.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 206,976 shares of company stock worth $1,497,495. 4.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Xeris Biopharma

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Xeris Biopharma by 7.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,650,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,052,000 after purchasing an additional 244,862 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in Xeris Biopharma by 6.0% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 3,274,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,657,000 after acquiring an additional 185,063 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Xeris Biopharma by 75.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,790,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,317,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199,435 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Xeris Biopharma by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,317,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,726,000 after purchasing an additional 369,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Xeris Biopharma by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,804,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,426,000 after acquiring an additional 392,589 shares during the last quarter. 42.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Xeris Biopharma Stock Performance

XERS stock traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $8.07. 1,667,935 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,455,389. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $7.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.03. Xeris Biopharma has a fifty-two week low of $3.14 and a fifty-two week high of $10.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -80.44 and a beta of 0.58.

Xeris Biopharma (NASDAQ:XERS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $74.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.19 million. Research analysts anticipate that Xeris Biopharma will post -0.41 EPS for the current year.

About Xeris Biopharma

Xeris Biopharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing novel therapies for endocrine and orphan diseases. The company’s proprietary formulation platform is designed to enable liquid stability of drugs that traditionally require reconstitution before injection. By eliminating the need for on-site mixing and simplifying administration, Xeris aims to improve patient safety, adherence, and convenience in high-need therapeutic areas.

The company’s flagship product, Gvoke, is a ready-to-use liquid glucagon autoinjector and prefilled syringe that has been approved by the U.S.