Short Interest in Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) Expands By 8.2%

Galapagos NV (NASDAQ:GLPG) saw a significant growth in short interest in 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 stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 266,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GLPG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded Galapagos from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Galapagos in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley downgraded Galapagos from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen downgraded Galapagos from a “strong-buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Galapagos from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Galapagos presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in Galapagos in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,262,000. Tang Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Galapagos by 208.7% in the fourth quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 2,161,200 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $59,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,461,200 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP grew its stake in Galapagos by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 554,300 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $15,243,000 after purchasing an additional 44,300 shares in the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP bought a new position in Galapagos in the fourth quarter worth approximately $21,471,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Galapagos by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,454 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 3,684 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 32.46% of the company’s stock.

Galapagos Trading Up 6.3 %

Shares of GLPG traded up $1.59 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $27.03. 120,068 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 313,957. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $25.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.04. Galapagos has a 12 month low of $22.36 and a 12 month high of $40.34.

About Galapagos

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.