Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT) Given New $15.00 Price Target at Leerink Partners

Key Points

• Leerink Partners has raised its price target for Sarepta Therapeutics from $12.00 to $15.00, maintaining a "market perform" rating, which indicates a potential downside from its previous close.
• Bank of America has set a higher price target of $17.00 while assigning an "underperform" rating, reflecting a range of differing opinions on the company's stock performance.
• Sarepta Therapeutics reported a 68.4% year-over-year revenue increase with earnings per share of $2.02 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations significantly.

Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Leerink Partners from $12.00 to $15.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Leerink Partners currently has a market perform rating on the biotechnology company's stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays raised shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $22.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. They issued a "sell" rating on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics to $17.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $13.00 target price on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sarepta Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.36.

Sarepta Therapeutics Stock Down 2.9%

SRPT stock traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.39. 3,492,616 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,880,755. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.89. Sarepta Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $10.41 and a 1-year high of $138.81. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $17.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.83. The company has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.99 and a beta of 0.49.

Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.89 by $1.13. Sarepta Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 2.34% and a negative return on equity of 1.03%. The company had revenue of $611.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $530.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.07 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 68.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sarepta Therapeutics will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sarepta Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SRPT. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Sarepta Therapeutics by 347.8% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,308,199 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $22,370,000 after buying an additional 1,016,069 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sarepta Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $15,619,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in Sarepta Therapeutics by 1,736.5% in the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 870,181 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $14,880,000 after buying an additional 822,799 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in Sarepta Therapeutics by 91.1% in the 2nd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 1,242,404 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $21,500,000 after buying an additional 592,125 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 438.0% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 712,581 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $45,477,000 after purchasing an additional 580,123 shares during the period. 86.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sarepta Therapeutics

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.