Short Interest in Grifols, S.A. (NASDAQ:GRFS) Decreases By 45.5%

Grifols, S.A. (NASDAQ:GRFS) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,455,645 shares, a drop of 45.5% from the July 15th total of 6,340,082 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 917,661 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Grifols from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Grifols from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Grifols from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $10.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Grifols

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in shares of Grifols by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 30,954,223 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $289,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838,727 shares during the last quarter. Permian Investment Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Grifols by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Permian Investment Partners LP now owns 18,190,262 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $170,079,000 after purchasing an additional 737,941 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Grifols by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 7,122,155 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $66,592,000 after purchasing an additional 184,874 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in Grifols by 45.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,394,750 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $41,091,000 after buying an additional 1,381,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Grifols by 1.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,212,032 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,948,000 after buying an additional 80,507 shares in the last quarter.

Grifols Stock Performance

Grifols stock opened at $7.75 on Wednesday. Grifols has a 12-month low of $6.96 and a 12-month high of $10.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $7.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.07.

Grifols Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 2nd were issued a $0.0945 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. Grifols’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.37%.

Grifols Company Profile

Grifols, Inc (NASDAQ: GRFS) is a global healthcare company specializing in the development, manufacture and marketing of plasma-derived medicines, diagnostic systems and hospital supplies. With a core focus on immunotherapy and transfusion medicine, the company harnesses human plasma proteins to create therapies that treat a wide range of bleeding disorders, immunodeficiencies and neurological conditions. Grifols also supplies reagents and diagnostic instruments for transfusion centers and clinical laboratories, alongside intravenous solutions and medical devices for hospital use.

The company operates three main business units.