Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VNDA) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VNDA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 5,310,265 shares, a growth of 65.9% from the March 15th total of 3,200,424 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,225,454 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 10.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VNDA has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research lowered Vanda Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Vanda Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on Vanda Pharmaceuticals from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $14.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vanda Pharmaceuticals

In other Vanda Pharmaceuticals news, CMO Joakim Wijkstrom sold 30,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.27, for a total transaction of $254,716.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 333,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,757,788.63. The trade was a 8.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gunther Birznieks sold 42,431 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.27, for a total value of $350,904.37. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 494,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,087,009.19. This represents a 7.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 314,342 shares of company stock valued at $2,583,985 in the last ninety days. 8.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vanda Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals by 8,629.9% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 29,158 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 28,824 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Vanda Pharmaceuticals by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 43,829 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 14,836 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Vanda Pharmaceuticals by 35.1% during the fourth quarter. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC now owns 150,427 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after buying an additional 39,087 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Vanda Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $601,000. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vanda Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $521,000. Institutional investors own 88.14% of the company’s stock.

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ VNDA opened at $7.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $432.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.96 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $7.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.61. Vanda Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $3.81 and a twelve month high of $9.94.

Vanda Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VNDA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($2.39) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.18) by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $57.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.28 million. Vanda Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 23.85% and a negative net margin of 102.02%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Vanda Pharmaceuticals will post -1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies for central nervous system (CNS) disorders and rare diseases. The company’s research and development efforts center on sleep-wake regulation, mood disorders, and movement disorders. Vanda’s mission is to address unmet medical needs by advancing novel molecules through clinical trials and regulatory review.

Vanda’s flagship commercial product is Hetlioz (tasimelteon), a melatonin receptor agonist approved by the U.S.