Allakos Inc. (NASDAQ:ALLK) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Allakos Inc. (NASDAQ:ALLK) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,940,000 shares, a decline of 16.0% from the August 15th total of 2,310,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 554,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Insider Activity at Allakos

In other Allakos news, CFO Harlan Baird Radford sold 87,064 shares of Allakos stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.01, for a total value of $87,934.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 204,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,433.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 16.12% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Allakos

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Allakos during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Allakos during the second quarter worth about $55,000. Aristides Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Allakos during the fourth quarter worth about $153,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Allakos in the 2nd quarter valued at about $112,000. Finally, Pennant Investors LP acquired a new position in shares of Allakos in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $508,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.64% of the company’s stock.

Allakos Stock Performance

Shares of ALLK stock opened at $0.60 on Monday. Allakos has a 52 week low of $0.56 and a 52 week high of $3.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $0.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $53.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.25 and a beta of 1.16.

Allakos (NASDAQ:ALLK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by $0.02. Sell-side analysts forecast that Allakos will post -1.2 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ALLK. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Allakos from $1.50 to $1.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Allakos in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $3.00 target price on shares of Allakos in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Allakos currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $1.67.

Allakos Company Profile

Allakos Inc, a clinical stage biotechnology company, develops therapeutics that target immunomodulatory receptors present on immune effector cells in allergy, inflammatory, and proliferative diseases in the United States. The company’s lead product candidate is AK006, which in a Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) and other indications.