Vigil Neuroscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIGL) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Vigil Neuroscience, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIGL) saw a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 736,700 shares, a growth of 51.3% from the October 31st total of 487,000 shares. Approximately 3.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 112,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vigil Neuroscience

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VIGL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vigil Neuroscience by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 894,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,050,000 after buying an additional 95,276 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vigil Neuroscience during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Vigil Neuroscience by 19.2% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 71,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 11,536 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Vigil Neuroscience by 72.8% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 395,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,580,000 after purchasing an additional 166,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Vigil Neuroscience during the second quarter valued at about $87,000. 83.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on VIGL shares. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Vigil Neuroscience from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Vigil Neuroscience in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Vigil Neuroscience from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Vigil Neuroscience in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Vigil Neuroscience has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.60.

Vigil Neuroscience Stock Performance

VIGL traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $2.47. 338,260 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 236,064. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.97 million, a PE ratio of -1.20 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $3.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.63. Vigil Neuroscience has a 1 year low of $2.08 and a 1 year high of $6.06.

About Vigil Neuroscience

Vigil Neuroscience, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on developing treatments for rare and common neurodegenerative diseases by restoring the vigilance of microglia, the sentinel immune cells of the brain. Its lead candidate is VGL101(Iluzanebart), a human monoclonal antibody agonist targeting human triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 and is in a Phase 2 trial in patients with adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia (ALSP), a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disease.