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

Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,500,000 shares, a growth of 5.6% from the March 31st total of 1,420,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 124,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 12.1 days. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Galapagos Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GLPG opened at $28.45 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.13. Galapagos has a one year low of $28.33 and a one year high of $45.21. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of -12.42 and a beta of 0.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on GLPG. StockNews.com cut Galapagos from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price (down previously from $41.00) on shares of Galapagos in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Galapagos in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Galapagos currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.50.

Institutional Trading of Galapagos

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Galapagos by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM raised its stake in shares of Galapagos by 3.8% during the third quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 8,458 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 313 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Galapagos by 9.1% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Galapagos by 78.6% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,970 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Galapagos during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 32.46% of the company’s stock.

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.