Investors Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Replimune Group (NASDAQ:REPL)

Key Points

• Investors acquired 3,868 put options on Replimune — a 29% increase versus typical volume — while the stock traded up 1.7% to $5.99 on above-average volume, suggesting elevated bearish bets or hedging activity.
• Insider Christopher Sarchi sold 6,500 shares at an average price of $8.01 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, trimming his stake by 4.11%; company insiders own about 5.20% of the shares.
• Hedge funds and institutional investors own roughly 92.53% of the stock, analysts have a consensus "Hold" rating with a $10 average price target, and Replimune is a clinical-stage biotech with negative EPS that recently beat quarterly estimates (-$0.77 vs. -$0.85).

Replimune Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:REPL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors acquired 3,868 put options on the company. This is an increase of 29% compared to the typical volume of 3,003 put options.

Replimune Group Stock Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:REPL traded up $0.10 on Thursday, reaching $5.99. The stock had a trading volume of 2,314,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,603,169. The company has a current ratio of 5.60, a quick ratio of 5.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $7.59 and a 200 day moving average of $7.90. The stock has a market cap of $494.84 million, a P/E ratio of -1.74 and a beta of 0.74. Replimune Group has a 12-month low of $2.68 and a 12-month high of $13.24.

Replimune Group (NASDAQ:REPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported ($0.77) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.08. On average, research analysts predict that Replimune Group will post -2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christopher Sarchi sold 6,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.01, for a total transaction of $52,065.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 151,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,214,219.88. This represents a 4.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Replimune Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in REPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Replimune Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Replimune Group by 3,638.9% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,777 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 7,569 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Replimune Group by 248.6% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,047 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 2,886 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Replimune Group by 99.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,762 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 6,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Replimune Group during the second quarter worth about $69,000. 92.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on REPL shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Replimune Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Replimune Group from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Replimune Group from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.00.

Replimune Group Company Profile

Replimune Group, Inc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company focused on developing next‐generation oncolytic immunotherapies for the treatment of solid tumors. The company's proprietary “RP” platform leverages genetically engineered herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) vectors armed with immunomodulatory payloads to selectively infect, replicate within and destroy cancer cells, while also stimulating systemic antitumor immune responses.

Replimune's lead candidate, RP1, incorporates GM-CSF and a fusogenic protein to enhance both direct oncolysis and immune activation.

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