Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ:DNLI) Trading Up 11.6% on Strong Earnings

Denali Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:DNLI) shot up 11.6% on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $20.25 and last traded at $18.81. 784,064 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 32% from the average session volume of 1,156,850 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.85.

The company reported ($0.68) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.69) by $0.01. Denali Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 36.51% and a negative return on equity of 13.50%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.80) earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on DNLI shares. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Denali Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Denali Therapeutics from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Denali Therapeutics from $70.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Denali Therapeutics from $73.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Denali Therapeutics from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.22.

Insider Activity at Denali Therapeutics

In other Denali Therapeutics news, insider Carole Ho sold 2,784 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.29, for a total transaction of $48,135.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 145,010 shares in the company, valued at $2,507,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Denali Therapeutics news, insider Carole Ho sold 2,784 shares of Denali Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.29, for a total transaction of $48,135.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 145,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,507,222.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Steve E. Krognes sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.29, for a total transaction of $47,547.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 139,841 shares in the company, valued at $2,417,850.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,955 shares of company stock worth $2,218,802. Corporate insiders own 7.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DNLI. CWM LLC raised its stake in Denali Therapeutics by 216.7% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Denali Therapeutics by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Denali Therapeutics by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Denali Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Denali Therapeutics by 96.5% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. 92.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Denali Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.84. The stock has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.50 and a beta of 1.39.

Denali Therapeutics Company Profile

Denali Therapeutics Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops a portfolio of product candidates engineered to cross the blood-brain barrier for neurodegenerative diseases and lysosomal storage diseases in the United States. The company's transport vehicle (TV)-enabled programs include DNL310 ETV, an IDS enzyme replacement therapy program for MPS II; TAK-594/DNL593 which is in Phase 1/II for frontotemporal dementia-granulin; DNL126 program for MPS IIIA; and DNL622 for MPS I, as well as other preclinical programs that target amyloid beta and HER2.