Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,100,000 shares, a growth of 25.8% from the March 15th total of 4,850,000 shares. Approximately 6.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,670,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Insider Activity at Sarepta Therapeutics

In related news, Director Claude Nicaise sold 2,491 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.64, for a total transaction of $248,203.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,771,187.68. The trade was a 8.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 7.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sarepta Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 26,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,222,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 86.6% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 237 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 521 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Sarepta Therapeutics by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,851 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 86.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sarepta Therapeutics Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ SRPT opened at $53.79 on Friday. Sarepta Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $48.01 and a 52-week high of $173.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $82.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.03 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 3.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on SRPT shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $196.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank cut their price target on Sarepta Therapeutics from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Sarepta Therapeutics from $202.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Sarepta Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $161.00 to $87.00 in a report on Monday, March 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sarepta Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.83.

Sarepta Therapeutics Company Profile

Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapeutics, gene therapies, and other genetic therapeutic modalities for the treatment of rare diseases. It offers EXONDYS 51 injection to treat duchenne muscular dystrophy (duchenne) in patients with confirmed mutation of the dystrophin gene that is amenable to exon 51 skipping; VYONDYS 53 for the treatment of duchenne in patients with confirmed mutation of the dystrophin gene that is amenable to exon 53 skipping; AMONDYS 45 for the treatment of duchenne in patients with confirmed mutation of the dystrophin gene; and ELEVIDYS, an adeno-associated virus based gene therapy for the treatment of ambulatory pediatric patients aged 4 through 5 years with duchenne with a confirmed mutation in the duchenne gene.