Grifols, S.A. (NASDAQ:GRFS) Short Interest Down 45.5% in July

Grifols, S.A. (NASDAQ:GRFS) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,455,645 shares, a decline of 45.5% from the July 15th total of 6,340,082 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 917,661 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Grifols

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Flat Footed LLC grew its stake in Grifols by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. Flat Footed LLC now owns 1,372,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $11,007,000 after buying an additional 287,867 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Grifols in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,139,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Grifols by 42.0% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 352,798 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,829,000 after acquiring an additional 104,418 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Grifols by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 30,954,223 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $289,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838,727 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Grifols by 15.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 785,703 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,301,000 after acquiring an additional 104,850 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on GRFS. Weiss Ratings cut Grifols from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research upgraded Grifols from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Grifols from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $10.00.

Grifols Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ GRFS traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $7.77. The company had a trading volume of 295,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 664,578. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.09. Grifols has a 52-week low of $6.96 and a 52-week high of $10.65. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.89, a PEG ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 0.67.

Grifols Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.0945 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 2nd. Grifols’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.11%.

Grifols Company Profile

Grifols, Inc (NASDAQ: GRFS) is a global healthcare company specializing in the development, manufacture and marketing of plasma-derived medicines, diagnostic systems and hospital supplies. With a core focus on immunotherapy and transfusion medicine, the company harnesses human plasma proteins to create therapies that treat a wide range of bleeding disorders, immunodeficiencies and neurological conditions. Grifols also supplies reagents and diagnostic instruments for transfusion centers and clinical laboratories, alongside intravenous solutions and medical devices for hospital use.

The company operates three main business units.