Silence Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:SLN) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Silence Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:SLN - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 350,500 shares, a decrease of 37.5% from the July 31st total of 561,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 212,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Silence Therapeutics from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Chardan Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Silence Therapeutics in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Silence Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, June 27th.

Institutional Trading of Silence Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Silence Therapeutics by 1,686.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 146,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,784,000 after purchasing an additional 138,300 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Silence Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $114,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Silence Therapeutics by 91.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 782,941 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,876,000 after purchasing an additional 373,523 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Silence Therapeutics by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 149,397 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,839,000 after purchasing an additional 10,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp increased its stake in Silence Therapeutics by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp now owns 2,405,998 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,714,000 after purchasing an additional 17,086 shares in the last quarter. 98.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Silence Therapeutics Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:SLN traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $18.84. 191,974 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 213,699. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $563.84 million, a P/E ratio of -16.51 and a beta of 1.30. Silence Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $6.15 and a 1 year high of $27.72.

Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SLN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The company reported ($0.42) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.10). Silence Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 58.28% and a negative net margin of 222.44%. The firm had revenue of $0.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.28 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Silence Therapeutics will post -1.52 EPS for the current year.

Silence Therapeutics Company Profile

Silence Therapeutics plc, a biotechnology company, focuses on the discovery and development novel molecules incorporating short interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) to inhibit the expression of specific target genes in hematology, cardiovascular, and rare diseases. The company's mRNAi GalNAc Oligonucleotide Discovery platform consists of precision engineered product candidates designed to target specific disease-associated genes in the liver.