Galectin Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:GALT) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Galectin Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:GALT) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 6,567,660 shares, a growth of 27.0% from the February 26th total of 5,169,383 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 479,761 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 13.7 days. Approximately 21.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GALT shares. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Galectin Therapeutics from $6.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Galectin Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Galectin Therapeutics news, insider Khurram Jamil sold 25,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.90, for a total transaction of $99,446.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,446 shares in the company, valued at $83,639.40. The trade was a 54.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jack W. Callicutt sold 25,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.90, for a total transaction of $100,354.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 27,968 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $109,075.20. The trade was a 47.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 204,000 shares of company stock valued at $787,433 over the last 90 days. 52.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Galectin Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Galectin Therapeutics by 101.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 38,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 19,316 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Galectin Therapeutics by 226.6% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 42,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 29,699 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Galectin Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $64,000. Vivaldi Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Galectin Therapeutics by 210.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 172,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 116,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in Galectin Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,580,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.68% of the company’s stock.

Galectin Therapeutics Trading Up 8.6%

NASDAQ GALT opened at $2.79 on Wednesday. Galectin Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $1.12 and a 1 year high of $7.13. The company has a market cap of $179.88 million, a PE ratio of -4.73 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $2.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.21.

Galectin Therapeutics (NASDAQ:GALT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported ($0.08) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by $0.02. Research analysts forecast that Galectin Therapeutics will post -0.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Galectin Therapeutics

Galectin Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel therapies that target galectin proteins, which are implicated in fibrotic, inflammatory and malignant diseases. The company’s lead product candidate, belapectin (formerly GR-MD-02), is a galectin-3 inhibitor being evaluated in Phase 2 clinical trials for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) with cirrhosis. In addition to its core pipeline in fibrotic liver disease, Galectin Therapeutics continues to explore the potential of its galectin inhibitors in oncology and other indications driven by abnormal tissue remodeling.

Founded in 2000, the company is headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, where it oversees discovery research, preclinical studies and clinical trial coordination.