DAFNA Capital Management LLC Purchases 272,901 Shares of Stoke Therapeutics, Inc. $STOK

Key Points

• DAFNA Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Stoke Therapeutics by 159.5%, owning approximately 443,998 shares valued at $2,953,000 after acquiring an additional 272,901 shares in the first quarter.
• Stoke Therapeutics' stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with some downgrades, including HC Wainwright lowering its price target from $47.00 to $35.00, while others maintain a "buy" rating.
• Insider trading activity includes General Counsel Jonathan Allan selling 13,712 shares at an average price of $15.00, substantially reducing his ownership in the company.

DAFNA Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Stoke Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STOK - Free Report) by 159.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 443,998 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 272,901 shares during the quarter. DAFNA Capital Management LLC owned about 0.81% of Stoke Therapeutics worth $2,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Stoke Therapeutics by 1,842.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 5,084 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Stoke Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $72,000. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Stoke Therapeutics by 9,743.9% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,222 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 11,108 shares during the period. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Stoke Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $92,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in Stoke Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at about $107,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

STOK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Stoke Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush upped their price objective on Stoke Therapeutics from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Chardan Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of Stoke Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. HC Wainwright reduced their price objective on Stoke Therapeutics from $47.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Stoke Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and seven have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $25.57.

Stoke Therapeutics Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:STOK traded up $0.18 on Wednesday, hitting $19.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,287,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 810,398. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.26 and a beta of 1.14. Stoke Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $5.35 and a one year high of $20.45.

Stoke Therapeutics (NASDAQ:STOK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $13.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.51 million. Stoke Therapeutics had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 26.25%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Stoke Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Jonathan Allan sold 13,712 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $205,680.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 19,631 shares in the company, valued at approximately $294,465. This trade represents a 41.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Barry Ticho sold 4,504 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.82, for a total value of $57,741.28. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,775 shares in the company, valued at approximately $215,055.50. This trade represents a 21.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Stoke Therapeutics Profile

Stoke Therapeutics, Inc, an early-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops medicines to treat the underlying causes of severe genetic diseases in the United States. The company utilizes its proprietary targeted augmentation of nuclear gene output to develop antisense oligonucleotides to selectively restore protein levels.