Short Interest in Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) Expands By 20.4%

Key Points

• Short interest rose 20.4% in March to 1,096,114 shares (about 1.7% of the float), leaving a days-to-cover ratio of roughly 5.0 days.
• Galapagos shares last traded at $29.28 with a market cap of $1.93 billion, and analysts hold a consensus "Hold" rating with a $36.50 average target.

Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,096,114 shares, an increase of 20.4% from the March 15th total of 910,692 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 218,377 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Galapagos Price Performance

Galapagos stock traded up $0.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.28. 91,131 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 207,593. Galapagos has a 52-week low of $24.31 and a 52-week high of $37.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.65 and a beta of 0.32. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $31.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.38.

Galapagos (NASDAQ:GLPG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Sunday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported $13.92 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Galapagos will post -1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Galapagos

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GLPG. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Galapagos by 2,490.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,416,934 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $49,083,000 after acquiring an additional 1,362,229 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Galapagos by 128.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 349,444 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $11,427,000 after acquiring an additional 196,445 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Galapagos by 121.9% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 339,354 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $11,097,000 after acquiring an additional 186,452 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Galapagos by 2,245.7% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 110,783 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,783,000 after acquiring an additional 115,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kotler Kevin acquired a new stake in Galapagos during the fourth quarter worth $2,943,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 32.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on GLPG. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Galapagos from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Galapagos in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Galapagos from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Galapagos from a "sell (d)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Galapagos in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $36.50.

About Galapagos

Galapagos NV NASDAQ: GLPG is a clinical-stage biotechnology company headquartered in Mechelen, Belgium, focused on the discovery and development of novel small-molecule therapies. Established in 1999 through the merger of Tibotec and Progenix, Galapagos has built a research platform targeting chronic inflammatory diseases, fibrosis and oncology. The company's discovery engine integrates human genetics, translational biology and medicinal chemistry to identify and optimize drug candidates with unique modes of action.

The company's pipeline encompasses multiple programs across various stages of development.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.