Investors Buy High Volume of Galectin Therapeutics Put Options (NASDAQ:GALT)

Galectin Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:GALT) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 15,740 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 230% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,772 put options.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Joel Lewis sold 56,000 shares of Galectin Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.89, for a total value of $49,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 897,012 shares in the company, valued at $798,340.68. The trade was a 5.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jack W. Callicutt sold 40,000 shares of Galectin Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.89, for a total value of $35,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 7,614 shares in the company, valued at $6,776.46. The trade was a 84.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 17,000 shares of company stock worth $17,040 and have sold 109,654 shares worth $97,456. 50.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Galectin Therapeutics by 309.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 21,598 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Galectin Therapeutics by 2.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 862,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,372,000 after purchasing an additional 20,817 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Galectin Therapeutics by 9.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 251,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 21,399 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in Galectin Therapeutics by 75.4% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 84,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,000 after purchasing an additional 36,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Galectin Therapeutics by 317.6% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 483,351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 367,610 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Galectin Therapeutics in a report on Friday, December 27th. StockNews.com cut Galectin Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 30th.

Galectin Therapeutics Trading Up 11.3 %

Shares of GALT stock opened at $1.28 on Thursday. Galectin Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.73 and a 1-year high of $4.27. The company has a market capitalization of $80.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.75 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.33.

About Galectin Therapeutics

Galectin Therapeutics Inc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the research and development of therapies for fibrotic, cancer, and other diseases. Its lead product candidate is belapectin (GR-MD-02) galectin-3 inhibitor, that is in Phase 2b/3 clinical trial, to prevent esophageal varices in patient with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) cirrhosis; and Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of liver fibrosis, as well as severe skin disease, and melanoma and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.