Galapagos (NASDAQ:GLPG) Downgraded by Morgan Stanley to Underweight

Galapagos (NASDAQ:GLPG - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $22.00 price target on the biotechnology company's stock, down from their prior price target of $31.00. Morgan Stanley's price objective suggests a potential downside of 17.11% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on GLPG. TD Cowen cut Galapagos from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target 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. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Galapagos in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets cut Galapagos from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Galapagos presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.75.

Galapagos Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of GLPG stock traded up $1.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $26.54. 747,411 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 335,752. Galapagos has a fifty-two week low of $22.36 and a fifty-two week high of $40.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $25.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.04.

Institutional Trading of Galapagos

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GLPG. Gilead Sciences Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Galapagos during the fourth quarter worth $461,727,000. Tang Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $59,433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,461,200 shares during the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP bought a new position in Galapagos in the fourth quarter valued at about $21,471,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Galapagos in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,300,000. Finally, Finepoint Capital LP boosted its holdings in Galapagos by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Finepoint Capital LP now owns 674,762 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $18,556,000 after acquiring an additional 117,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 32.46% of the company's stock.

Galapagos Company Profile

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.