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

Silence Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:SLN) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 254,600 shares, a decrease of 27.4% from the August 15th total of 350,500 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 222,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Institutional Trading of Silence Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp grew its holdings in shares of Silence Therapeutics by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp now owns 2,405,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,714,000 after purchasing an additional 17,086 shares during the period. Redmile Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Silence Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $43,798,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Silence Therapeutics by 91.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 782,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,876,000 after purchasing an additional 373,523 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new position in shares of Silence Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $13,575,000. Finally, First Turn Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Silence Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $10,209,000. 98.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Silence Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ SLN traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $18.69. The stock had a trading volume of 86,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 163,951. Silence Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $6.15 and a twelve month high of $27.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $559.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.11 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $18.75 and its 200 day moving average is $20.66.

Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SLN) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $0.76 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.28 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Silence Therapeutics will post -1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SLN. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Silence Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Silence Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Chardan Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Silence Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Silence Therapeutics from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $57.20.

About Silence Therapeutics

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.