Short Interest in Akari Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ:AKTX) Increases By 66.2%

Akari Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ:AKTX) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 27,299 shares, a growth of 66.2% from the July 15th total of 16,430 shares. Currently, 3.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 37,573 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.7 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Akari Therapeutics

An institutional investor recently bought a new stake in Akari Therapeutics stock. Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Akari Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ:AKTX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,723,966 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $787,000. Armistice Capital LLC owned about 5.95% of Akari Therapeutics as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.06% of the company’s stock.

Akari Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Akari Therapeutics stock opened at $7.54 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $10.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $9.03. Akari Therapeutics has a one year low of $3.02 and a one year high of $49.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AKTX. Maxim Group upgraded Akari Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Akari Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Akari Therapeutics from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.33.

Akari Therapeutics Company Profile

Akari Therapeutics plc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel complement inhibitors for the treatment of inflammatory and immunological diseases. The company’s research centers on modulation of the complement cascade, a key component of the innate immune system, with the goal of delivering targeted therapies to patients suffering from rare and severe disorders.

Akari’s lead pipeline asset is sutimlimab, a humanized monoclonal antibody that selectively inhibits the C1s protein and is being evaluated in pivotal clinical studies for cold agglutinin disease.