127,900 Shares in Denali Therapeutics Inc. $DNLI Acquired by DAFNA Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• DAFNA Capital Management LLC has invested approximately $1.74 million in Denali Therapeutics Inc., acquiring 127,900 shares during the first quarter.
• Insider transactions include significant sales by CEO Ryan J. Watts and insider Alexander O. Schuth, with Watts selling 495,282 shares valued at $7.43 million.
• Analysts maintain a mostly positive outlook on Denali Therapeutics, with a current average price target of $33.62 and several ratings upgraded to "strong-buy."

DAFNA Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DNLI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 127,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,739,000. DAFNA Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Denali Therapeutics as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DNLI. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Denali Therapeutics by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,622 shares of the company's stock valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 9,643 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Denali Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $533,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Denali Therapeutics by 260.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 65,442 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 47,308 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Denali Therapeutics by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,855,036 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,805,000 after acquiring an additional 295,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Denali Therapeutics by 2,519.0% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,288 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 10,857 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.92% of the company's stock.

Denali Therapeutics Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Denali Therapeutics stock traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $15.31. 2,801,816 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,458,976. Denali Therapeutics Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.57 and a twelve month high of $33.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.47 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.74. The company has a current ratio of 10.27, a quick ratio of 10.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DNLI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.72) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.74) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.59) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Denali Therapeutics Inc. will post -2.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Alexander O. Schuth sold 2,937 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.58, for a total value of $39,884.46. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 242,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,291,058.68. This trade represents a 1.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan J. Watts sold 495,282 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $7,429,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 253,071 shares in the company, valued at $3,796,065. This represents a 66.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 501,962 shares of company stock valued at $7,520,799. Insiders own 12.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on DNLI shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Denali Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Denali Therapeutics from $30.00 to $29.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Denali Therapeutics from $33.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. HC Wainwright dropped their target price on shares of Denali Therapeutics from $80.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Denali Therapeutics from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $33.62.

Denali Therapeutics Company Profile

Denali Therapeutics Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops a portfolio of product candidates engineered to cross the blood-brain barrier for neurodegenerative diseases and lysosomal storage diseases in the United States. The company's transport vehicle (TV)-enabled programs include DNL310 ETV, an IDS enzyme replacement therapy program for MPS II; TAK-594/DNL593 which is in Phase 1/II for frontotemporal dementia-granulin; DNL126 program for MPS IIIA; and DNL622 for MPS I, as well as other preclinical programs that target amyloid beta and HER2.