Big Short Interest On These 5 Biotech Stocks

Rumor has it that anytime the S&P 500 has finished its first 5 trading days of the year with a gain then the year in question has ended with a gain as well over 80 percent of the time.

Last Thursday’s rally gave the S&P that 5-day gain, just barely, but it was a gain nonetheless. However, since that day the market has seen a decent amount of weakness.

The biotech arena continues to be a strong one, even in the face of that recent market weakness, but some biotech names are starting to see steady increases in short interest. So, could it be time for the industry to finally cool off a bit?

Investors looking to get short a few biotech names in preparation for a potential sell-off might find interest in the biotech stocks that have the highest level of short interest.

On the other hand, those looking for a “short squeeze” to get long in a few biotechs might have interest in the same stocks.

Below is a list of the top 5 biotech stocks with the highest short interest as a percentage of shares oustanding.

The biotech stock with the 5th highest level of short interest would be Aegerion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AEGR).

Aegerion’s short interest current sits at a little over 25 percent of shares outstanding. The stock closed at $22.13 on Friday.

There is essentially a 3-way tie for 2nd place on our list starting with Exact Sciences (NASDAQ: EXAS).

Exact Sciences is approaching its 52-week high after closing out on Friday at $29.16/share.

Next in the 3-way tie would be Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SRPT).

Sarepta simply looks like a stock few are interested in being long in. The stock is starting the week at $13.95/share.

The 3rd member of our 3-way tie comes from Amag Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: AMAG).

Just like Exact Sciences, Amag had been approaching a new high as well before getting hit pretty hard on Friday.

All three of the stocks mentioned above have a short interest percentage of just around 32 percent.

Finally, the biotech stock currently having the highest amount of short interest is Myriad Genetics (NASDAQ: MYGN).

Over 40 percent of Myriad’s outstanding shares are in short position. The stock closed on Friday at $38.10.

Obviously, investors must conduct their own due diligence before investing in any stock, but the biotech stocks considered for this review were confined to those over $5 per share that traded at least 500K shares a day based on a 90-day average.

Posted to The Biotech Trader on Jan 12, 2015 — 1:01 PM
Comments ({[comments.length]})
Sort By:
Loading Comments
No comments. Break the ice and be the first!
Error loading comments Click here to retry
No comments found matching this filter
Want to add a comment? Take me to the new comment box!