Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,170,000 shares, an increase of 25.4% from the February 13th total of 1,730,000 shares. Currently, 4.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 262,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GLPG shares. TD Cowen lowered Galapagos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Kepler Capital Markets cut Galapagos from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Morgan Stanley cut Galapagos from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $22.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Galapagos in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.75.

Galapagos Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of GLPG traded up $0.01 on Monday, reaching $26.02. The stock had a trading volume of 155,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 183,620. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.12. Galapagos has a 12-month low of $22.36 and a 12-month high of $34.02.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GLPG. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Galapagos in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Galapagos by 77.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 974 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Galapagos by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 8,972 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 2,824 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Galapagos by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,455 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 1,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthedge Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Galapagos during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $311,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 32.46% of the company’s stock.

About Galapagos

Galapagos NV, a biotechnology company, develops medicines focusing on oncology and immunology primarily in the United States and Europe. The company's pipeline products comprise GLPG3667 that has completed phase 1b trial; GLPG5101, a CD19 CAR-T product candidate manufactured at point-of-care, currently in Phase1/2 trial in relapsed/refractory non-hodgkin lymphoma; GLPG5201, a CD19 CAR-T product candidates manufactured at point-of-care, currently in phase 1/2 trial in replapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia; and GLPG5301, a BCMA CAR-T product candidate manufactured at point-of-care, currently in phase 1/2 in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.