Northern Trust Corp Increases Position in Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT - Free Report) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 803,511 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after purchasing an additional 147,874 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.84% of Sarepta Therapeutics worth $97,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Sarepta Therapeutics by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,697,137 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,057,482,000 after buying an additional 2,437,855 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $126,315,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Sarepta Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $22,613,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Sarepta Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $16,706,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Sarepta Therapeutics by 159.0% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 193,652 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $23,546,000 after purchasing an additional 118,874 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.68% of the company's stock.

Sarepta Therapeutics Stock Down 21.5 %

Sarepta Therapeutics stock traded down $10.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,719,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,567,183. Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.49 and a 52-week high of $173.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.38 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 3.84 and a quick ratio of 3.03. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $70.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.57.

Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($3.42) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.20 by ($5.62). The company had revenue of $744.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $685.75 million. Sarepta Therapeutics had a return on equity of 11.00% and a net margin of 7.43%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 80.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Claude Nicaise sold 2,491 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.64, for a total value of $248,203.24. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,771,187.68. This represents a 8.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on SRPT. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a report on Friday, April 11th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Sarepta Therapeutics from $87.00 to $58.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $112.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $182.00 to $113.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $178.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.09.

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.