HilleVax, Inc. (NASDAQ:HLVX) Short Interest Up 14.8% in June

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on HLVX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of HilleVax from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of HilleVax in a report on Friday, May 10th.

HilleVax Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:HLVX traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $14.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 160,563. HilleVax has a 12-month low of $9.94 and a 12-month high of $20.22. The company has a quick ratio of 10.92, a current ratio of 10.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.65 and a 200-day moving average of $14.89.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Aditya Kohli sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.73, for a total value of $88,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 764,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,266,652.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other HilleVax news, major shareholder Life Sciences X. L.P. Frazier acquired 8,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $14.50 per share, for a total transaction of $128,325.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 8,544,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $123,890,711.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aditya Kohli sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.73, for a total value of $88,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 764,878 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,266,652.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,898 shares of company stock worth $280,406 in the last quarter. 71.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On HilleVax

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HLVX. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new stake in HilleVax during the 1st quarter valued at about $207,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HilleVax during the first quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Catalys Pacific LLC purchased a new stake in shares of HilleVax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,009,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in HilleVax by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,846,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,635,000 after purchasing an additional 71,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of HilleVax by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 38,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares in the last quarter. 86.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.