Applied Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLT) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Applied Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,790,000 shares, a growth of 25.0% from the April 30th total of 15,830,000 shares. Currently, 18.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.5 days.

Applied Therapeutics Price Performance

APLT stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $0.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,251,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,363,298. Applied Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $0.30 and a twelve month high of $10.62. The company's 50-day moving average price is $0.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.15 million, a P/E ratio of -0.23 and a beta of 2.00.

Applied Therapeutics (NASDAQ:APLT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 14th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $0.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $0.61 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Applied Therapeutics will post -0.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on APLT. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $1.50 price objective on shares of Applied Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Applied Therapeutics to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $6.10.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vestal Point Capital LP raised its stake in Applied Therapeutics by 904.4% during the fourth quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 11,500,000 shares of the company's stock worth $9,846,000 after purchasing an additional 10,355,000 shares during the period. Propel Bio Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Applied Therapeutics by 17.4% during the first quarter. Propel Bio Management LLC now owns 11,285,420 shares of the company's stock worth $5,517,000 after buying an additional 1,670,000 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Applied Therapeutics by 91.5% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,380,590 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,076,000 after acquiring an additional 4,959,670 shares in the last quarter. VR Adviser LLC increased its stake in Applied Therapeutics by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. VR Adviser LLC now owns 9,990,591 shares of the company's stock worth $8,554,000 after buying an additional 165,591 shares during the period. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Therapeutics by 2,458.3% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 8,762,291 shares of the company's stock worth $7,502,000 after acquiring an additional 8,419,781 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.31% of the company's stock.

About Applied Therapeutics

Applied Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of a pipeline of novel product candidates against validated molecular targets in indications of high unmet medical need in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is AT-007 (also called govorestat) that has completed phase 3 for the treatment of galactosemia in healthy volunteers and adults, in pediatric clinical study for the treatment of galactosemia in kids, for treating enzyme sorbitol dehydrogenase, and for the treatment of phosphomannomutase enzyme-CDG.