Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DNLI) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DNLI) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $28.00 to $24.00. The stock had previously closed at $19.82, but opened at $18.75. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Denali Therapeutics shares last traded at $20.91, with a volume of 193,497 shares trading hands.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on DNLI. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Denali Therapeutics from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Denali Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of Denali Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright reduced their target price on Denali Therapeutics from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Denali Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Alexander O. Schuth sold 15,558 shares of Denali Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.91, for a total value of $465,339.78. Following the sale, the insider now owns 178,066 shares in the company, valued at $5,325,954.06. The trade was a 8.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ryan J. Watts sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.69, for a total transaction of $1,107,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 235,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,529,495.83. This trade represents a 14.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 59,658 shares of company stock valued at $1,667,943. 7.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Denali Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Denali Therapeutics by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 235,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,857,000 after acquiring an additional 14,324 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Denali Therapeutics by 13.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,238,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,076,000 after purchasing an additional 149,939 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Denali Therapeutics by 3.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 80,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after buying an additional 2,901 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Denali Therapeutics by 101.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 255,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,454,000 after buying an additional 128,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Denali Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,894,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.92% of the company’s stock.

Denali Therapeutics Trading Up 6.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.67 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $24.34 and its 200-day moving average is $24.88.

Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DNLI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.63) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.03). During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.72) EPS. Analysts predict that Denali Therapeutics Inc. will post -2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Denali Therapeutics

Denali Therapeutics Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops a portfolio of product candidates engineered to cross the blood-brain barrier for neurodegenerative diseases and lysosomal storage diseases in the United States. The company’s transport vehicle (TV)-enabled programs include DNL310 ETV, an IDS enzyme replacement therapy program for MPS II; TAK-594/DNL593 which is in Phase 1/II for frontotemporal dementia-granulin; DNL126 program for MPS IIIA; and DNL622 for MPS I, as well as other preclinical programs that target amyloid beta and HER2.