WellCare Health Plans (WCG) Short Interest Ratio & Short Volume

Short interest is the volume of WellCare Health Plans shares that have been sold short but have not yet been closed out or covered. As of January 15th, traders have sold 3,450,000 shares of WCG short. 6.92% of WellCare Health Plans' shares are currently sold short. Learn More on WellCare Health Plans' 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. WCG shares currently have a short interest ratio of 7.0. Learn More on WellCare Health Plans's short interest ratio.

Companies that have a short interest as a percentage of float below 10% indicates positive investor sentiment and few short sellers. Stocks with a short interest percentage above 10% is considered high, suggesting some investors are pessimistic about the stock. Companies with a short interest percentage of 20% or more indicates widespread negative sentiment. 6.92% of WellCare Health Plans' floating shares are currently sold short.

WellCare Health Plans saw a increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,450,000 shares, an increase of 13.1% from the previous total of 3,050,000 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.

WellCare Health Plans currently has issued a total of 50,328,000 shares. Some of WellCare Health Plans' outstanding shares are available for trading, while others are subject to various restrictions. The public float, also referred to as floating shares or "the float", are shares that publicly owned, unrestricted and available to trade on the open market. WellCare Health Plans currently has a public float of 49,860,000 shares.

6.92% of WellCare Health Plans' shares are currently sold short. Here is how the short interest of companies in the sector of "medical" compare to WellCare Health Plans: Molina Healthcare, Inc. (1.99%), Humana Inc. (2.04%), Centene Co. (1.55%), Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (2.29%), Avantor, Inc. (4.32%), BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (1.62%), Hologic, Inc. (1.92%), The Cooper Companies, Inc. (1.10%), Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (2.22%), Waters Co. (6.42%),

As of the most recent reporting period, the following stocks had the largest short interest positions: Tesla, Inc. ($19.32 billion), Charter Communications, Inc. ($5.12 billion), Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ($4.72 billion), Microchip Technology Incorporated ($3.73 billion), Match Group, Inc. ($2.38 billion), Snap Inc. ($2.17 billion), Wayfair Inc. ($2.11 billion), Uber Technologies, Inc. ($2.09 billion), Omnicom Group Inc. ($2.05 billion), and Hormel Foods Co. ($1.85 billion). View all of the most shorted stocks.

Short selling WCG is an investing strategy that aims to generate trading profit from WellCare Health Plans 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 WellCare Health Plans 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 WCG, 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 WCG, twice per month. The most recent reporting period available is January, 15 2020.