Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,371,531 shares, an increase of 25.1% from the March 31st total of 1,096,114 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 160,808 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.5 days. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Galapagos

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Galapagos by 21.9% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,705 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 3,535 shares in the last quarter. Madison Avenue Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Galapagos by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Madison Avenue Partners LP now owns 2,213,169 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $72,371,000 after purchasing an additional 17,394 shares in the last quarter. Arax Advisory Partners increased its stake in shares of Galapagos by 319.2% during the fourth quarter. Arax Advisory Partners now owns 2,335 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Galapagos by 61.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,968 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Galapagos during the third quarter worth about $211,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 32.46% of the company’s stock.

Galapagos Stock Performance

Shares of GLPG stock traded up $0.17 on Friday, reaching $28.00. 107,777 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 128,693. The company has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.83 and a beta of 0.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $30.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.97. Galapagos has a 1 year low of $24.74 and a 1 year high of $37.78.

Galapagos (NASDAQ:GLPG) last released its earnings results on Sunday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported $13.92 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Galapagos will post -6.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GLPG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Galapagos from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Galapagos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Galapagos from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Galapagos in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Galapagos in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.50.

Galapagos Company Profile

Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company headquartered in Mechelen, Belgium, focused on the discovery and development of novel small-molecule therapies. Established in 1999 through the merger of Tibotec and Progenix, Galapagos has built a research platform targeting chronic inflammatory diseases, fibrosis and oncology. The company’s discovery engine integrates human genetics, translational biology and medicinal chemistry to identify and optimize drug candidates with unique modes of action.

The company’s pipeline encompasses multiple programs across various stages of development.