Adagene Inc. Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:ADAG) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest surged 477.3% to 411,325 shares as of April 15, representing about 1.1% of shares and a short-interest ratio of 0.8 days based on average daily volume.
• Hedge funds increased stakes recently—Fifth Lane Capital boosted holdings 427.3% to 145,000 shares and Gordian Capital more than doubled to 48,342 shares—while institutional investors own just 9.51% of the stock.
• Analysts hold a consensus Buy rating with an average target of $8.00, and Guggenheim recently raised its target to $10.00 and reiterated a buy rating.

Adagene Inc. Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:ADAG - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 411,325 shares, an increase of 477.3% from the March 31st total of 71,244 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 517,839 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.8 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Adagene

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Marex Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Adagene during the second quarter worth approximately $47,000. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Adagene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $73,000. Citadel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Adagene during the third quarter worth approximately $80,000. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Adagene by 101.4% during the third quarter. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd now owns 48,342 shares of the company's stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 24,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Lane Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Adagene by 427.3% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Lane Capital LP now owns 145,000 shares of the company's stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 117,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.51% of the company's stock.

Adagene Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ ADAG traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $3.69. 101,033 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 237,747. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $3.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 3.07 and a current ratio of 3.07. Adagene has a twelve month low of $1.30 and a twelve month high of $4.75.

Adagene (NASDAQ:ADAG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Saturday, February 14th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $3.84 million for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Adagene will post -0.49 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADAG has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Adagene in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Adagene to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Adagene from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Adagene currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $8.00.

About Adagene

Adagene Inc, headquartered in Suzhou, China, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in the discovery and development of antibody-based therapeutics for cancer and immune-related diseases. Founded in 2017, the company leverages its proprietary immunome technology platform to mine human antibody repertoires and engineer novel monospecific and bispecific antibodies. Adagene's pipeline includes multiple candidates in preclinical and early clinical development, with a focus on targeting tumor microenvironments and modulating immune checkpoints to enhance anti-tumor efficacy.

At the core of Adagene's research and development efforts is its Bihanc™ antibody platform, which combines combinatorial phage display, structure-based design and artificial intelligence to optimize binding affinity, specificity and developability.

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