Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) Short Interest Up 20.4% in March

Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,096,114 shares, an increase of 20.4% from the March 15th total of 910,692 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 218,377 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.0 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Galapagos from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Galapagos in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. UBS Group reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Galapagos in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Galapagos from a “sell (d)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Galapagos from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Galapagos presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Galapagos

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GLPG. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Galapagos by 2,490.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,416,934 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $49,083,000 after buying an additional 1,362,229 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Galapagos by 128.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 349,444 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,427,000 after buying an additional 196,445 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Galapagos by 121.9% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 339,354 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $11,097,000 after buying an additional 186,452 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Galapagos by 2,245.7% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 110,783 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,783,000 after buying an additional 115,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kotler Kevin acquired a new stake in Galapagos during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,943,000. 32.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Galapagos Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of GLPG stock traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.28. 91,131 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 207,593. Galapagos has a fifty-two week low of $24.31 and a fifty-two week high of $37.78. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.65 and a beta of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.38.

Galapagos (NASDAQ:GLPG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Sunday, February 15th. The biotechnology company reported $13.92 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that Galapagos will post -1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Galapagos Company Profile

Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company headquartered in Mechelen, Belgium, focused on the discovery and development of novel small-molecule therapies. Established in 1999 through the merger of Tibotec and Progenix, Galapagos has built a research platform targeting chronic inflammatory diseases, fibrosis and oncology. The company’s discovery engine integrates human genetics, translational biology and medicinal chemistry to identify and optimize drug candidates with unique modes of action.

The company’s pipeline encompasses multiple programs across various stages of development.