Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) Short Interest Up 8.2% in January

Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,710,000 shares, a growth of 8.2% from the January 15th total of 1,580,000 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 266,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GLPG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Galapagos from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $31.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Friday. Kepler Capital Markets lowered shares of Galapagos from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Galapagos in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price 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, TD Cowen downgraded Galapagos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.75.

Galapagos Price Performance

Shares of GLPG stock traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.54. The stock had a trading volume of 747,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 335,752. Galapagos has a one year low of $22.36 and a one year high of $40.34. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.04.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Galapagos

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Galapagos by 77.4% during 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 period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Galapagos in the third quarter worth about $1,077,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Galapagos by 65.6% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,413 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Galapagos by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,870 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,463 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Galapagos in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 32.46% of the company’s stock.

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.