FibroGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGEN) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

FibroGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:FGEN) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,190,000 shares, a decline of 6.1% from the March 15th total of 5,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,740,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 5.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at FibroGen

In related news, CEO Thane Wettig acquired 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $1.91 per share, for a total transaction of $95,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 470,178 shares in the company, valued at $898,039.98. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FibroGen

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in FibroGen by 57.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 111,404 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 40,700 shares in the last quarter. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of FibroGen during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of FibroGen by 731.6% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 235,418 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 207,110 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of FibroGen by 1,383.0% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 203,661 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 189,928 shares during the period. Finally, Pennant Investors LP purchased a new stake in FibroGen in the fourth quarter worth $681,000. 72.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of FibroGen in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.00.

FibroGen Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FGEN traded down $0.05 on Wednesday, reaching $1.25. 403,814 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,531,707. The company’s 50 day moving average is $2.00 and its 200-day moving average is $1.19. FibroGen has a 1-year low of $0.33 and a 1-year high of $20.90.

FibroGen (NASDAQ:FGEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.57) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by ($0.15). The business had revenue of $27.14 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.00 million. Research analysts anticipate that FibroGen will post -1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

About FibroGen

FibroGen, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes therapeutics to treat serious unmet medical needs. Its lead product candidates are Pamrevlumab, a human monoclonal antibody targeting connective tissue growth factor that is in Phase III clinical development for the treatment of locally advanced pancreatic cancer; and Roxadustat, an oral small molecule inhibitor of hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase activity, which has completed Phase III clinical development for the treatment of anemia in chronic kidney disease in China, Europe, Japan, and other countries, as well as in Phase III clinical development for anemia related with myelodysplastic syndromes.