Short Interest in Evotec AG (NASDAQ:EVO) Declines By 15.1%

Key Points

• Short interest fell 15.1% to 349,478 shares as of March 31, equal to about 0.1% of the float and a days-to-cover ratio of 3.1 based on average daily volume of 113,394.
• Analysts are mixed—three Buys, one Hold and one Sell—giving a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $7.00.
• Institutional activity rose: Wellington increased its stake by 25.7% and ABC Arbitrage boosted holdings by 319.7%, with institutional investors now owning 5.81% of the stock.

Evotec AG (NASDAQ:EVO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 349,478 shares, a drop of 15.1% from the March 15th total of 411,580 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 113,394 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Evotec from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on Evotec in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Evotec in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, HC Wainwright initiated coverage on Evotec in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $7.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $7.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Evotec

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EVO. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Evotec by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,797,444 shares of the company's stock worth $5,536,000 after purchasing an additional 367,545 shares during the period. DCF Advisers LLC grew its stake in Evotec by 7.6% during the third quarter. DCF Advisers LLC now owns 1,198,993 shares of the company's stock worth $4,352,000 after purchasing an additional 84,500 shares during the period. ABC Arbitrage SA grew its stake in Evotec by 319.7% during the fourth quarter. ABC Arbitrage SA now owns 554,287 shares of the company's stock worth $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 422,230 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in Evotec during the fourth quarter worth approximately $565,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in Evotec during the fourth quarter worth approximately $317,000. 5.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Evotec Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of EVO traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $3.26. 63,485 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 131,823. Evotec has a 52 week low of $2.31 and a 52 week high of $4.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.29.

Evotec (NASDAQ:EVO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Evotec had a negative return on equity of 12.40% and a negative net margin of 13.13%.The company had revenue of $297.02 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts forecast that Evotec will post -0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Evotec

Evotec SE NASDAQ: EVO is a global biotechnology company headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, specializing in drug discovery and development partnerships. The company leverages its integrated discovery platforms to support pharmaceutical and biotech clients in advancing novel therapies from target identification through preclinical development.

Evotec's service offering encompasses high-throughput screening, bioanalytics, combinatorial chemistry, structural biology, pharmacology, and computational drug design.

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