Short Interest in Astellas Pharma Inc. (OTCMKTS:ALPMY) Increases By 201.3%

Key Points

• Short interest in Astellas Pharma surged 201.3% in June, rising to 49,919 shares from 16,568 shares two weeks earlier. Despite the jump, the stock still shows a very low days-to-cover ratio of 0.1 and essentially 0.0% of shares sold short.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.33 versus the $0.19 consensus estimate and revenue of $3.38 billion, slightly above expectations. Analysts currently project full-year earnings of $1.25 per share.
• Wall Street sentiment is generally positive, with recent upgrades from Jefferies and Zacks helping support a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”. Astellas Pharma’s shares recently traded at $13.25, below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

Astellas Pharma Inc. (OTCMKTS:ALPMY - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 49,919 shares, an increase of 201.3% from the June 15th total of 16,568 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 468,461 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.1 days. Currently, 0.0% of the company's stock are sold short.

Astellas Pharma Stock Performance

Shares of OTCMKTS ALPMY opened at $13.25 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34 and a beta of 0.07. Astellas Pharma has a 52-week low of $9.46 and a 52-week high of $17.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $13.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.65.

Astellas Pharma (OTCMKTS:ALPMY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 27th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.14. Astellas Pharma had a return on equity of 23.54% and a net margin of 13.66%.The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Astellas Pharma will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on ALPMY. Jefferies Financial Group raised Astellas Pharma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Zacks Research raised Astellas Pharma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Astellas Pharma has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Astellas Pharma Company Profile

Astellas Pharma Inc is a Tokyo-based, global pharmaceutical company traded in the United States as an American Depositary Receipt on the OTC Markets under the symbol ALPMY. The company focuses on discovering, developing and marketing prescription medicines in key therapeutic areas, including oncology, urology, immunology, neuroscience and cardiovascular/metabolic diseases. Astellas seeks to bring innovative treatments to market by combining internal research capabilities with external partnerships and collaborative agreements around the world.

Core products in Astellas' portfolio include the immunosuppressant Prograf (tacrolimus), the overactive bladder treatments Vesicare (solifenacin) and Myrbetriq (mirabegron), and the prostate cancer therapy Xtandi (enzalutamide).

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