Short Interest in Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN) Rises By 41.7%

Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MYGN - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,920,000 shares, an increase of 41.7% from the April 30th total of 5,590,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,920,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.1 days. Approximately 8.9% of the company's shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Myriad Genetics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MYGN. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Myriad Genetics during the first quarter worth about $10,437,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Myriad Genetics by 58.1% during the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,819,814 shares of the company's stock worth $24,950,000 after purchasing an additional 668,429 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Myriad Genetics by 377.6% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 549,456 shares of the company's stock worth $7,533,000 after purchasing an additional 434,420 shares in the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Myriad Genetics by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 2,766,729 shares of the company's stock worth $37,932,000 after purchasing an additional 336,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Myriad Genetics by 87.4% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 684,874 shares of the company's stock worth $9,390,000 after purchasing an additional 319,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.02% of the company's stock.

Myriad Genetics Stock Performance

NASDAQ MYGN traded down $0.37 on Thursday, reaching $4.92. 2,577,114 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,208,438. The firm has a market cap of $453.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.78 and a beta of 2.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $6.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.67. Myriad Genetics has a fifty-two week low of $3.81 and a fifty-two week high of $29.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.90.

Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ:MYGN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $195.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $200.37 million. Myriad Genetics had a negative net margin of 14.09% and a negative return on equity of 4.51%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 33.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.01) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Myriad Genetics will post -0.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MYGN shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Myriad Genetics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Myriad Genetics from $14.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Craig Hallum set a $18.00 price objective on Myriad Genetics and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $10.00 price objective (down from $19.00) on shares of Myriad Genetics in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Myriad Genetics from $13.00 to $11.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Myriad Genetics currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $14.38.

About Myriad Genetics

Myriad Genetics, Inc, a genetic testing and precision medicine company, develops genetic tests in the United States and internationally. The company offers molecular diagnostic tests for use in oncology, and women's and pharmacogenomics. It also provides MyRisk Hereditary Cancer Test, a DNA sequencing test for assessing the risks for hereditary cancers; BRACAnalysis CDx Germline Companion Diagnostic Test, a DNA sequencing test to help determine the therapy for patients with metastatic breast, ovarian, metastatic pancreatic, and metastatic prostate cancer with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline BRCA variants; and MyChoice CDx Companion Diagnostic Test, a tumor test that determines homologous recombination deficiency status in patients with ovarian cancer.