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

Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) saw 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 shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 262,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.3 days.

Galapagos Price Performance

NASDAQ GLPG traded up $0.01 during trading on Monday, reaching $26.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 155,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 183,620. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $25.10 and a 200 day moving average of $27.12. Galapagos has a one year low of $22.36 and a one year high of $34.02.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Galapagos

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Galapagos by 77.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,233 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Galapagos by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 49,163 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 11,777 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Galapagos by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,455 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,866 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Galapagos during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Galapagos during the 4th quarter valued at about $726,000. 32.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GLPG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Galapagos from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Galapagos in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Kepler Capital Markets lowered shares of Galapagos from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Galapagos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Galapagos has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.75.

Galapagos Company Profile

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.