The brokerage firm initiated coverage with a "buy" rating
The shares of Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd (NASDAQ:GLMD) are trading up 17.7% at $9.32, after B. Riley initiated coverage on the drug stock with a "buy" rating and $28 price target -- a 253% premium to last night's close. The brokerage firm waxed optimistic on Aramchol, the drugmaker's Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) treatment.
This upbeat outlook echoes the bullish bias already displayed by the brokerage bunch, with 100% of analysts in coverage maintaining a "buy" rating. Plus, the average 12-month price target sits all the way up at $33.38, well above GLMD's record high of $27.06 from June 12.
Short interest, meanwhile, is down 83% since its early August all-time peak of 640,000 shares. The 110,000 shares currently dedicated to these bearish bets account for just over 1% of GLMD stock's float, and would take roughly one session to cover, at the security's average pace of trading.
Looking at the charts, the drug stock has been in a downtrend since that mid-June bull gap. More recently, Galmed Pharmaceuticals shares have been churning beneath a trendline connecting lower highs since early October, and bottomed at a six-month low of $7.83 yesterday. Plus, today's upside is being contained by GLMD's 320-day moving average, which has been a ceiling since mid-November.
