Short Interest in Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) Expands By 8.2%

Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,710,000 shares, an increase of 8.2% from the January 15th total of 1,580,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 266,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.4 days. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on GLPG. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Galapagos from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of Galapagos in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Kepler Capital Markets lowered Galapagos from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Cowen lowered Galapagos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Galapagos from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Galapagos currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.75.

Institutional Trading of Galapagos

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Galapagos during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Galapagos by 140.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,259 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Galapagos by 63.2% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,899 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,510 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Galapagos by 65.6% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,413 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 2,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Galapagos in the third quarter valued at about $247,000. Institutional investors own 32.46% of the company’s stock.

Galapagos Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GLPG traded up $1.59 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.03. 120,068 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 313,957. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $25.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.04. Galapagos has a one year low of $22.36 and a one year high of $40.34.

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.