Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. $VNDA

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:VNDA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 122,427 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $749,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Vanda Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals by 456.6% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,495 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 5,328 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. 88.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

VNDA opened at $5.29 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market cap of $319.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.14 and a beta of 0.64. Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. has a 52-week low of $4.27 and a 52-week high of $9.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.49.

Vanda Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VNDA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.04) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.58) by ($0.46). Vanda Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 49.81% and a negative net margin of 127.41%.The company had revenue of $50.53 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.92 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. will post -3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VNDA shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vanda Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. HC Wainwright dropped their price objective on Vanda Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective (down from $17.00) on shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.70.

About Vanda Pharmaceuticals

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.