Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VNDA) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VNDA) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,880,000 shares, an increase of 21.4% from the March 31st total of 4,020,000 shares. Approximately 9.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 663,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.4 days.

Insider Transactions at Vanda Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Mihael Hristos Polymeropoulos acquired 10,000 shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.76 per share, with a total value of $47,600.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,361,730 shares in the company, valued at $11,241,834.80. The trade was a 0.43 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders acquired a total of 32,000 shares of company stock valued at $151,180 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 8.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vanda Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VNDA. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Vanda Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,425,827 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,689,000 after acquiring an additional 94,870 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals by 128.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 154,297 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 86,677 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals by 16.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 160,722 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 22,249 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Vanda Pharmaceuticals by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 25,861 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 5,459 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Vanda Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 819,382 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,925,000 after buying an additional 38,449 shares in the last quarter. 88.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.9 %

VNDA stock opened at $4.57 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $269.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.28 and a beta of 0.72. Vanda Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $3.85 and a twelve month high of $6.75.

Vanda Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VNDA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $53.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.00 million. Vanda Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 9.51% and a negative return on equity of 3.49%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vanda Pharmaceuticals will post -1.12 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VNDA. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Vanda Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company.

About Vanda Pharmaceuticals

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of therapies to address high unmet medical needs worldwide. The company’s marketed products include HETLIOZ to treat non-24-hour sleep-wake disorders; and Fanapt oral tablets for the treatment of schizophrenia.