Short Interest in Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DNLI) Rises By 5.1%

Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DNLI) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,840,000 shares, a growth of 5.1% from the December 31st total of 7,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 868,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.0 days. Approximately 6.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Denali Therapeutics

In related news, insider Alexander O. Schuth sold 15,558 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.91, for a total value of $465,339.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 178,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,325,954.06. This represents a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ryan J. Watts sold 29,266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.22, for a total transaction of $591,758.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 260,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,271,778.62. This represents a 10.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 64,518 shares of company stock worth $1,469,382 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Denali Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DNLI. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Denali Therapeutics by 43.6% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Denali Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $73,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Denali Therapeutics by 18.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Denali Therapeutics by 75.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 2,731 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Denali Therapeutics by 21.6% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares during the period. 92.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Baird R W raised shares of Denali Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Denali Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Denali Therapeutics from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Denali Therapeutics from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Denali Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Denali Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.00.

Denali Therapeutics Price Performance

Denali Therapeutics stock opened at $21.84 on Tuesday. Denali Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $14.56 and a 1-year high of $33.33. The company’s 50-day moving average is $22.37 and its 200 day moving average is $24.85.

Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DNLI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.63) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.03). During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.72) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Denali Therapeutics will post -2.74 EPS for the current year.

About Denali Therapeutics

Denali Therapeutics Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops a portfolio of product candidates engineered to cross the blood-brain barrier for neurodegenerative diseases and lysosomal storage diseases in the United States. The company’s transport vehicle (TV)-enabled programs include DNL310 ETV, an IDS enzyme replacement therapy program for MPS II; TAK-594/DNL593 which is in Phase 1/II for frontotemporal dementia-granulin; DNL126 program for MPS IIIA; and DNL622 for MPS I, as well as other preclinical programs that target amyloid beta and HER2.