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

Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of 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. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 266,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.4 days.

Galapagos Price Performance

Shares of Galapagos stock traded up $1.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.54. 747,411 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 335,752. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $25.45 and a 200-day moving average of $27.04. Galapagos has a 12 month low of $22.36 and a 12 month high of $40.34.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Galapagos

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Galapagos during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,262,000. Tang Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Galapagos by 208.7% in the fourth quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 2,161,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,200 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Galapagos by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 554,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,243,000 after purchasing an additional 44,300 shares in the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP bought a new position in Galapagos in the fourth quarter worth $21,471,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Galapagos by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,454 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 3,684 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 32.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.