Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DNLI) Trading 11.6% Higher After Earnings Beat

Shares of Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DNLI) rose 11.6% during trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $20.25 and last traded at $18.81. Approximately 784,064 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 1,156,850 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.85.

The company reported ($0.68) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.69) by $0.01. Denali Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 13.50% and a negative net margin of 36.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.80) earnings per share.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Denali Therapeutics from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Denali Therapeutics from $73.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 29th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Denali Therapeutics from $70.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Denali Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Denali Therapeutics from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Denali Therapeutics

In other Denali Therapeutics news, CEO Ryan J. Watts sold 9,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.29, for a total value of $165,793.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 238,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,116,178.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Steve E. Krognes sold 2,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.29, for a total transaction of $47,547.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 139,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,417,850.89. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan J. Watts sold 9,589 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.29, for a total value of $165,793.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 238,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,116,178.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 110,955 shares of company stock worth $2,218,802. Insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Denali Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Denali Therapeutics by 5.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,000 after buying an additional 630 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in shares of Denali Therapeutics by 3.9% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 18,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $377,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Denali Therapeutics by 49.1% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Denali Therapeutics by 0.8% in the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 101,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,092,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Denali Therapeutics by 48.1% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the period. 92.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Denali Therapeutics Trading Up 12.2 %

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.50 and a beta of 1.39.

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.