Incyte Co. (NASDAQ:INCY) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Incyte Co. (NASDAQ:INCY) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,850,000 shares, a decline of 29.7% from the February 13th total of 8,320,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Incyte Stock Performance

Incyte stock traded down $1.59 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $60.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,302,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,239,330. The company has a 50-day moving average of $71.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $11.69 billion, a PE ratio of 223.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.76. Incyte has a fifty-two week low of $50.35 and a fifty-two week high of $83.95.

Incyte (NASDAQ:INCY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.48). Incyte had a net margin of 0.77% and a return on equity of 0.05%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Incyte will post 4.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Incyte

In other Incyte news, EVP Steven H. Stein sold 12,352 shares of Incyte stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.69, for a total transaction of $897,866.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 66,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,867,831.23. The trade was a 15.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Sheila A. Denton sold 14,069 shares of Incyte stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.07, for a total value of $1,042,090.83. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,848 shares in the company, valued at $1,914,561.36. The trade was a 35.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,020 shares of company stock worth $1,981,882 in the last 90 days. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Incyte

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Incyte by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 34,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,391,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its position in Incyte by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 20,371 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,410,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. grew its position in Incyte by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 3,282 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in Incyte by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 21,694 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,498,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Incyte by 26.4% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 828 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 96.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

INCY has been the topic of a number of research reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Incyte in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Incyte from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut Incyte from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Incyte from $97.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Incyte from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.13.

Incyte Company Profile

Incyte Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company, engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutics for hematology/oncology, and inflammation and autoimmunity areas in the United States and internationally. The company offers JAKAFI (ruxolitinib) for treatment of intermediate or high-risk myelofibrosis, polycythemia vera, and steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease; MONJUVI (tafasitamab-cxix)/MINJUVI (tafasitamab) for relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma; PEMAZYRE (pemigatinib), a fibroblast growth factor receptor kinase inhibitor that act as oncogenic drivers in liquid and solid tumor types; ICLUSIG (ponatinib) to treat chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia-chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia; and ZYNYZ (retifanlimab-dlwr) to treat adults with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced Merkel cell carcinoma, as well as OPZELURA cream for treatment of atopic dermatitis.