Silence Therapeutics PLC Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:SLN) Short Interest Up 13.3% in April

Key Points

• Short interest rose 13.3% in April to 2,075,273 shares (about 4.6% of the stock), leaving a days-to-cover ratio of roughly 4.6 days.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but tilted positive, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.50, versus the stock trading around $7.31.
• Institutional investors own 98.73% of the shares; the company has a market cap of $345.25M and reported a quarterly EPS loss of ($0.25) that beat estimates while revenue was far below expectations and profitability metrics remain deeply negative.

Silence Therapeutics PLC Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:SLN - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,075,273 shares, a growth of 13.3% from the March 31st total of 1,832,291 shares. Approximately 4.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 446,721 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on SLN shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Silence Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Silence Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Silence Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Silence Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SLN. Boothbay Fund Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Silence Therapeutics by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 252,421 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,464,000 after acquiring an additional 2,409 shares during the last quarter. Massar Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Silence Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $115,000. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Silence Therapeutics by 34.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 307,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 78,854 shares during the last quarter. EHP Funds Inc. bought a new position in shares of Silence Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Silence Therapeutics by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 63,247 shares of the company's stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 3,935 shares during the last quarter. 98.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Silence Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of SLN stock opened at $7.31 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $6.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $6.13. The company has a market cap of $345.25 million, a PE ratio of -3.91 and a beta of 1.33. Silence Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $3.54 and a fifty-two week high of $8.40.

Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SLN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, March 6th. The company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.32) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $0.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.19 million. Silence Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 101.71% and a negative net margin of 15,851.88%. On average, equities analysts predict that Silence Therapeutics will post -1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Silence Therapeutics

Silence Therapeutics plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of ribonucleic acid interference (RNAi) therapeutics. Leveraging its proprietary EnCore lipid nanoparticle delivery platform, the company aims to silence disease-causing genes in the liver and other tissues. Silence's technology is designed to enhance targeted delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules, with the goal of achieving durable therapeutic effects and improved safety profiles compared with traditional drug modalities.

The company's lead product candidates include SLN360, an siRNA therapeutic designed to reduce lipoprotein(a) levels for cardiovascular risk reduction, and SLN124, aimed at treating hereditary hemochromatosis and beta-thalassemia by modulating iron metabolism.

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