Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Applied Therapeutics Put Options (NASDAQ:APLT)

Applied Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLT) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors acquired 34,641 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 968% compared to the typical volume of 3,244 put options.

Applied Therapeutics Stock Down 16.1 %

Applied Therapeutics stock traded down $1.64 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $8.57. 15,333,985 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,687,166. Applied Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $1.82 and a 12 month high of $10.62. The business has a 50 day moving average of $8.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.45.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Applied Therapeutics by 37.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,541,528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,656,000 after buying an additional 2,893,323 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Applied Therapeutics by 123.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,694,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,404,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038,724 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Applied Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth $3,414,000. Ally Bridge Group NY LLC purchased a new position in Applied Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at $5,256,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Applied Therapeutics by 165.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 735,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,249,000 after purchasing an additional 457,940 shares during the period. 98.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APLT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Applied Therapeutics from $8.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Applied Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Friday. William Blair raised Applied Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their price objective on Applied Therapeutics from $11.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $10.50.

Applied Therapeutics Company Profile

Applied Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of a pipeline of novel product candidates against validated molecular targets in indications of high unmet medical need in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is AT-007 (also called govorestat) that has completed phase 3 for the treatment of galactosemia in healthy volunteers and adults, in pediatric clinical study for the treatment of galactosemia in kids, for treating enzyme sorbitol dehydrogenase, and for the treatment of phosphomannomutase enzyme-CDG.