Replimune Group (NASDAQ:REPL) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Replimune shares reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $16.33 and closing around $15.80, significantly above the 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $12.00 and $8.45.
• Analyst sentiment has improved, with Piper Sandler, Wolfe Research, BMO Capital Markets and JPMorgan issuing upgrades or bullish ratings. The stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, although the average price target of $12.00 is below its current trading level.
• Replimune reported a quarterly loss of $0.72 per share, missing estimates by $0.03, and analysts expect a full-year loss of $2.81 per share. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company, while recent insider stock sales were made to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards.

Replimune Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:REPL - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $16.33 and last traded at $15.8030, with a volume of 99136 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $15.67.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised Replimune Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised Replimune Group to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Replimune Group from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $16.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Replimune Group from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Replimune Group from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.00.

Replimune Group Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 5.23, a quick ratio of 5.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of -4.95 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $12.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.45.

Replimune Group (NASDAQ:REPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.72) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.69) by ($0.03). Research analysts expect that Replimune Group, Inc. will post -2.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Replimune Group

In other news, CEO Sushil Patel sold 39,341 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.97, for a total transaction of $510,252.77. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 708,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,184,718.47. This trade represents a 5.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Konstantinos Xynos sold 11,447 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.97, for a total value of $148,467.59. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 224,215 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,908,068.55. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 79,124 shares of company stock worth $1,038,364 in the last 90 days. 5.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Replimune Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of REPL. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Replimune Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $99,171,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Replimune Group by 507.4% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,628,100 shares of the company's stock worth $11,012,000 after acquiring an additional 2,195,448 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Replimune Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $17,568,000. Commodore Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Replimune Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $13,851,000. Finally, EcoR1 Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Replimune Group during the first quarter valued at about $7,650,000. Institutional investors own 92.53% of the company's stock.

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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