Short Interest in HilleVax, Inc. (NASDAQ:HLVX) Drops By 5.6%

HilleVax, Inc. (NASDAQ:HLVX) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,860,000 shares, a decline of 5.6% from the August 31st total of 1,970,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Approximately 10.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

HilleVax Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:HLVX opened at $1.78 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.72. HilleVax has a 1 year low of $1.55 and a 1 year high of $20.22. The company has a market capitalization of $88.50 million, a PE ratio of -0.54 and a beta of 0.81.

HilleVax (NASDAQ:HLVX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.83) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.73) by ($0.10). Sell-side analysts anticipate that HilleVax will post -2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HilleVax

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HLVX. Catalys Pacific LLC purchased a new position in HilleVax during the fourth quarter valued at $21,009,000. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. increased its position in HilleVax by 8.5% in the second quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 10,617,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,523,000 after buying an additional 835,590 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of HilleVax during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,960,000. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HilleVax in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,844,000. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its stake in HilleVax by 164.8% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 311,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,508,000 after acquiring an additional 194,038 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of HilleVax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $34.00 to $3.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of HilleVax from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $2.00 price target on shares of HilleVax in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Leerink Partners cut shares of HilleVax from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $2.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $5.00 price objective (down from $24.00) on shares of HilleVax in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, HilleVax currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.20.

HilleVax Company Profile

HilleVax, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing novel vaccines in the United States. It develops HIL-214, a virus-like particle-based vaccine candidate for the prevention of moderate-to-severe acute gastroenteritis caused by norovirus infection. The company was formerly known as MokshaCo, Inc and changed its name to HilleVax, Inc in February 2021.