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

Key Points

• Investors bought an unusually large volume of call options — 5,950 calls, about 40% above the average — signaling elevated bullish/options interest in REPL.
• Shares rose $0.37 to $2.23 on heavy trading (11.3M shares vs. an average 3.4M), showing heightened market activity in the stock.
• Analysts have grown more negative with multiple downgrades, leaving a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $4.75.

Replimune Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:REPL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 5,950 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 40% compared to the average volume of 4,251 call options.

Replimune Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:REPL traded up $0.37 on Wednesday, reaching $2.23. 11,322,719 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,413,255. 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 market capitalization of $183.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.65 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average of $6.77 and a 200-day moving average of $7.84. Replimune Group has a twelve month low of $1.50 and a twelve month high of $13.24.

Replimune Group (NASDAQ:REPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported ($0.77) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.08. On average, research analysts predict that Replimune Group will post -3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Replimune Group news, insider Christopher Sarchi sold 6,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.01, for a total transaction of $52,065.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 151,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,214,219.88. The trade was a 4.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 5.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Replimune Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Replimune Group by 110.8% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 151,674 shares of the company's stock worth $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 79,719 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Replimune Group by 297.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 613,015 shares of the company's stock worth $5,959,000 after acquiring an additional 458,714 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Replimune Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $322,000. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Replimune Group by 127.0% during the 4th quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 26,133 shares of the company's stock worth $254,000 after acquiring an additional 14,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SummitTX Capital L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Replimune Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,058,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Leerink Partners reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $2.00 target price (down from $11.00) on shares of Replimune Group in a report on Monday, April 13th. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Replimune Group from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $4.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Replimune Group from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "underweight" rating on shares of Replimune Group in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Replimune Group in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $4.75.

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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