Raymond James Downgrades Galapagos (NASDAQ:GLPG) to Market Perform

Galapagos (NASDAQ:GLPG) was downgraded by stock analysts at Raymond James from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Separately, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of Galapagos in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.50.

Galapagos Price Performance

GLPG traded down $1.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $25.68. 127,242 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 120,156. Galapagos has a one year low of $24.78 and a one year high of $44.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $26.43 and its 200 day moving average is $31.16.

Galapagos (NASDAQ:GLPG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The biotechnology company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.51. The company had revenue of $67.79 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.04 million. On average, research analysts expect that Galapagos will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Galapagos

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GLPG. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Galapagos by 21.6% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 4,578 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Galapagos by 48.1% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,872 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 1,258 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Galapagos by 3.3% during the second quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 108,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,689,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Galapagos by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 15,186 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 2,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monaco Asset Management SAM increased its holdings in shares of Galapagos by 148.3% in the 1st quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 16,744 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 32.46% of the company’s stock.

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.