Portola Pharmaceuticals (PTLA) Short Interest Ratio & Short Volume

Short interest is the volume of Portola Pharmaceuticals shares that have been sold short but have not yet been closed out or covered. As of June 15th, traders have sold 12,950,000 shares of PTLA short. Learn More on Portola Pharmaceuticals' current short interest.

The short interest ratio, also known as the "days to cover ratio", is calculated by dividing the number of shares of a stock sold short divided by its average trading volume. A short interest ratio ranging between 1 and 4 generally indicates strong positive sentiment about a stock and a lack of short sellers. A short interest ratio of 10 or greater indicates strong pessimism about a stock. PTLA shares currently have a short interest ratio of 3.0. Learn More on Portola Pharmaceuticals's short interest ratio.

Portola Pharmaceuticals saw a decrease in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 12,950,000 shares, a decrease of 5.3% from the previous total of 13,680,000 shares. Changes in short volume can be used to identify positive and negative investor sentiment. Investors that short sell a stock are betting that its price will decline in the future. An increase in short sale volume suggests bearish (negative) sentiment among investors. A decrease on short sale volume suggests bullish (positive) sentiment.

Here is how the short interest of companies in the sector of "medical" compare to Portola Pharmaceuticals: TG Therapeutics, Inc. (16.90%), Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. (11.68%), Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (9.41%), Alkermes plc (7.99%), Grifols, S.A. (0.88%), Nuvalent, Inc. (14.61%), Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (4.45%), Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (7.51%), Cytokinetics, Incorporated (12.02%), Prestige Consumer Healthcare Inc. (3.39%),

As of the most recent reporting period, the following stocks had the largest short interest positions: Charter Communications, Inc. ($4.67 billion), Match Group, Inc. ($3.64 billion), Wayfair Inc. ($3.47 billion), Ecolab Inc. ($2.97 billion), Morgan Stanley ($2.93 billion), The Charles Schwab Co. ($2.70 billion), Carnival Co. & plc ($2.38 billion), The Clorox Company ($2.29 billion), Aon plc ($2.24 billion), and American Airlines Group Inc. ($2.16 billion). View all of the most shorted stocks.

Short selling PTLA is an investing strategy that aims to generate trading profit from Portola Pharmaceuticals as its price is falling. To short a stock, an investor borrows shares, sells them and buys the shares back on the public market later to return it to the lender. Short sellers are betting that a stock will decline in price. If the stock does drop after selling, the short seller buys it back at a lower price and returns it to the lender. The difference between the sell price and the buy price is the trader's profit.

A short squeeze for Portola Pharmaceuticals occurs when it has a large amount of short interest and its stock increases in price. This forces short sellers to cover their short interest positions by buying actual shares of PTLA, which in turn drives the price of the stock up even further.

Short interest is typically published by a stock exchange once per month. However, NASDAQ publishes a report for U.S. stocks, including PTLA, twice per month. The most recent reporting period available is June, 15 2020.