HilleVax, Inc. (NASDAQ:HLVX) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

HilleVax, Inc. (NASDAQ:HLVX) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,550,000 shares, an increase of 14.8% from the May 31st total of 1,350,000 shares. Approximately 9.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 177,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HLVX has been the topic of a number of research reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of HilleVax in a report on Friday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on HilleVax from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th.

HilleVax Trading Up 8.2 %

NASDAQ:HLVX opened at $14.46 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $13.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.89. HilleVax has a 52 week low of $9.94 and a 52 week high of $20.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 10.92 and a current ratio of 10.92.

HilleVax (NASDAQ:HLVX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.97) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.84) by ($0.13). On average, analysts forecast that HilleVax will post -3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other HilleVax news, major shareholder Life Sciences X. L.P. Frazier bought 8,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.50 per share, for a total transaction of $128,325.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 8,544,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $123,890,711.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other HilleVax news, major shareholder Life Sciences X. L.P. Frazier bought 8,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.50 per share, for a total transaction of $128,325.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 8,544,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $123,890,711.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Aditya Kohli sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.93, for a total value of $89,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 801,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,970,515.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,898 shares of company stock worth $369,986. Company insiders own 71.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On HilleVax

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HLVX. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of HilleVax by 80.6% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 943 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of HilleVax in the first quarter valued at approximately $80,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of HilleVax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $139,000. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of HilleVax in the first quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Finally, abrdn plc bought a new stake in shares of HilleVax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $433,000. Institutional investors own 86.42% of the company’s stock.

About HilleVax

HilleVax, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing novel vaccines in the United States. It develops HIL-214, a virus-like particle-based vaccine candidate for the prevention of moderate-to-severe acute gastroenteritis caused by norovirus infection. The company was formerly known as MokshaCo, Inc and changed its name to HilleVax, Inc in February 2021.