Short Interest in MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (NASDAQ:MLTX) Decreases By 14.2%

Key Points

• Short interest fell 14.2% in April to 6,654,522 shares (about 10.5% of the float), leaving a days-to-cover of roughly 4.2 based on average volume.
• Significant insider selling occurred recently: CEO Da Silva Jorge Santos sold 51,873 shares at an average $18.23 and BVF Partners sold 3.75 million shares, with insiders offloading ~3.9 million shares (~$65.7M) in the last quarter.
• Analyst views are mixed — MarketBeat shows a consensus "Hold" with an average target of $23.08, while ratings include nine Buys, four Holds and three Sells.

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (NASDAQ:MLTX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 6,654,522 shares, a decrease of 14.2% from the March 31st total of 7,757,169 shares. Currently, 10.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,569,884 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days.

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ MLTX traded down $0.02 on Friday, hitting $16.37. The stock had a trading volume of 330,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,737,356. MoonLake Immunotherapeutics has a one year low of $5.95 and a one year high of $62.75. The company has a quick ratio of 9.27, a current ratio of 9.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.67 and a beta of 1.19. The company's 50-day moving average is $17.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.96.

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics (NASDAQ:MLTX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.92) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.92). During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.72) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that MoonLake Immunotherapeutics will post -3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Da Silva Jorge Santos sold 51,873 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.23, for a total transaction of $945,644.79. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,924,893 shares in the company, valued at $53,320,799.39. This represents a 1.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bvf Partners L. P/Il sold 3,750,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.79, for a total transaction of $62,962,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,039,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,448,806.02. This trade represents a 78.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,900,000 shares of company stock worth $65,714,663. 12.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics by 64.7% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics by 115.0% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,919 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 3,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,426 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. 93.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MLTX has been the topic of several research reports. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group set a $24.00 target price on shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $12.00 to $24.00 in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $8.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $23.08.

About MoonLake Immunotherapeutics

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in developing therapies. It develops Sonelokimab, a novel investigational Nanobody for the treatment of inflammation diseases; and hidradenitis suppurativa, psoriatic arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, and psoriasis. MoonLake Immunotherapeutics was incorporated in 2020 and is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland.

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