Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,710,000 shares, an increase of 8.2% from the January 15th total of 1,580,000 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 266,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.4 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Galapagos

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Galapagos by 140.7% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,259 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Galapagos in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Galapagos by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 25,852 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Galapagos by 63.2% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,899 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Galapagos by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,455 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866 shares during the last quarter. 32.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Galapagos Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of Galapagos stock traded up $1.10 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.54. 747,411 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 335,752. Galapagos has a 1 year low of $22.36 and a 1 year high of $40.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.04.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GLPG shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded Galapagos from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $31.00 to $22.00 in a report on Friday. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Galapagos in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen downgraded Galapagos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Galapagos from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets downgraded Galapagos from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Galapagos has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.75.

About Galapagos

Galapagos NV, a biotechnology company, develops medicines focusing on oncology and immunology primarily in the United States and Europe. The company's pipeline products comprise GLPG3667 that has completed phase 1b trial; GLPG5101, a CD19 CAR-T product candidate manufactured at point-of-care, currently in Phase1/2 trial in relapsed/refractory non-hodgkin lymphoma; GLPG5201, a CD19 CAR-T product candidates manufactured at point-of-care, currently in phase 1/2 trial in replapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia; and GLPG5301, a BCMA CAR-T product candidate manufactured at point-of-care, currently in phase 1/2 in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.