The biotechnology company said it prevented and treated COVID-19 in macaques and hamsters
The shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:REGN) are trading sideways this morning at $644.66, even though the biotechnology company announced the coronavirus antibody drug it is developing both prevented and treated the respiratory disease in rhesus macaques and hamsters. The company hopes that it might also work for humans, with late-stage clinical trials already begun. An analyst at Guggenheim noted the drug has "great deal of potential."
On the charts, the security has been on a steady climb since late February, more than doubling in value over the past several months to hit an all-time high of $664.64 on July 20. While the equity has cooled off slightly since then, the 60-day moving average has contained its latest pullback. Longer term, REGN sports an impressive 116.9% year-over-year lead.
Analysts are mostly optimistic toward the equity, with 12 of 20 in coverage sporting a "strong buy" rating, and not a single "sell" in sight. Meanwhile, the 12-month consensus price target of $643.83 is right in line with current levels. There's similar optimism among short sellers; short interest is down 19.4% in the last two reporting periods and accounts for a slim 1.9% of REGN's total available float.
That upbeat sentiment is reflected in REGN's options pits, where calls are more than doubling puts. In fact, 16,848 calls were exchanged in the past 50 days, as opposed to just 7,683 puts, according to data on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX).