Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Rafael Call Options (NYSE:RFL)

Rafael Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:RFL) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 2,906 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 329% compared to the average daily volume of 677 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rafael

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RFL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Rafael by 10.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,394,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,897,000 after buying an additional 133,024 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Rafael by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 445,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $526,000 after acquiring an additional 90,417 shares in the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rafael by 132.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 72,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 41,335 shares during the last quarter. Cable Car Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Rafael in the 2nd quarter valued at about $173,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Rafael during the 2nd quarter worth about $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Rafael from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Sell”.

Rafael Stock Up 14.7%

NYSE RFL traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $1.87. 96,535 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 81,663. Rafael has a 52-week low of $1.12 and a 52-week high of $3.19. The firm has a market cap of $97.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.35 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.28.

Rafael (NYSE:RFL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 16th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter. Rafael had a negative net margin of 2,846.60% and a negative return on equity of 37.27%. The firm had revenue of $0.21 million during the quarter.

About Rafael

Rafael Holdings, Inc primarily engages in holding interests in clinical and early-stage pharmaceutical companies, and commercial real estate assets in the United States and Israel. It operates in two segments, Healthcare and Real Estate. The company engages in the development and commercialization of therapies that exploit the metabolic differences between normal cells and cancer cells. Its lead drug candidate is CPI-613 (devimistat), currently under Phase III clinical study for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer and acute myeloid leukemia.