Short Interest in Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DNLI) Expands By 5.1%

Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DNLI) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,840,000 shares, an increase of 5.1% from the December 31st total of 7,460,000 shares. Currently, 6.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 868,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DNLI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Baird R W raised shares of Denali Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Denali Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Denali Therapeutics from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Denali Therapeutics from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Denali Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.00.

Insider Activity at Denali Therapeutics

In related news, Director Vicki L. Sato sold 1,020 shares of Denali Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $30,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 111,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,331,680. This trade represents a 0.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan J. Watts sold 29,266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.22, for a total value of $591,758.52. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 260,721 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,271,778.62. This trade represents a 10.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 64,518 shares of company stock valued at $1,469,382. 7.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Denali Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Denali Therapeutics by 43.6% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Denali Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Denali Therapeutics by 18.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Denali Therapeutics by 75.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 2,731 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Denali Therapeutics by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. 92.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Denali Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ DNLI opened at $22.99 on Wednesday. Denali Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $14.56 and a 52-week high of $33.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.33 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.86.

Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DNLI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.63) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.03). During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.72) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Denali Therapeutics will post -2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Denali Therapeutics Company Profile

Denali Therapeutics Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops a portfolio of product candidates engineered to cross the blood-brain barrier for neurodegenerative diseases and lysosomal storage diseases in the United States. The company’s transport vehicle (TV)-enabled programs include DNL310 ETV, an IDS enzyme replacement therapy program for MPS II; TAK-594/DNL593 which is in Phase 1/II for frontotemporal dementia-granulin; DNL126 program for MPS IIIA; and DNL622 for MPS I, as well as other preclinical programs that target amyloid beta and HER2.