Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DNLI) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DNLI) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $20.97, but opened at $22.62. Denali Therapeutics shares last traded at $22.7450, with a volume of 1,158,462 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on DNLI. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Denali Therapeutics from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Denali Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Denali Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group assumed coverage on Denali Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price target on Denali Therapeutics from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Denali Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.20.

Denali Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $20.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 9.16 and a quick ratio of 9.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.41 and a beta of 1.02.

Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DNLI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.75) by $0.02. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.67) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Denali Therapeutics Inc. will post -2.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Denali Therapeutics

In other news, insider Alexander O. Schuth sold 17,218 shares of Denali Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.50, for a total value of $284,097.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 282,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,666,662. The trade was a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan J. Watts sold 35,198 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.50, for a total value of $580,767.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 296,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,897,744.50. This represents a 10.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 12.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in shares of Denali Therapeutics by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 151,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,503,000 after buying an additional 15,833 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Denali Therapeutics by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,254,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,766,000 after acquiring an additional 1,615,565 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Denali Therapeutics by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 291,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,820,000 after acquiring an additional 42,469 shares during the period. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new position in Denali Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $7,677,000. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Denali Therapeutics by 94.1% in the 4th quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 14,795 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 7,171 shares during the period. 92.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Denali Therapeutics

Denali Therapeutics is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. The company’s research leverages a proprietary Blood–Brain Barrier Transport Vehicle (TV) platform designed to enable large molecules, including antibodies and enzymes, to penetrate the central nervous system. Denali’s approach includes small molecules, monoclonal antibodies and gene therapy candidates aimed at key drivers of disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia.

Among Denali’s lead programs is an orally delivered leucine‐rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) inhibitor for Parkinson’s disease, and an anti‐TREM2 antibody designed to modulate microglial activity in Alzheimer’s patients.