Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SLN) Reaches New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Silence Therapeutics shares reached a new 52-week high of $19.69, significantly above their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, giving the company a market capitalization of approximately $1.19 billion.
• Analyst sentiment has weakened, with several firms downgrading the stock to Hold or Neutral ratings. The consensus rating is Hold, with a $24.00 target price.
• The company remains unprofitable and missed quarterly earnings expectations, reporting a loss of $0.26 per share versus the anticipated $0.14 loss. Institutional investors own 98.73% of the shares.

Silence Therapeutics PLC Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:SLN - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday. The stock traded as high as $19.69 and last traded at $19.6850, with a volume of 425,847 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. William Blair downgraded Silence Therapeutics from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Silence Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $20.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Chardan Capital lowered Silence Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. HC Wainwright downgraded Silence Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Silence Therapeutics from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $24.00.

Silence Therapeutics Stock Performance

The business's 50 day moving average price is $12.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.11. The company has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.39 and a beta of 1.45.

Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SLN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.14) by ($0.12). Silence Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 8,943.86% and a negative return on equity of 106.94%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Silence Therapeutics PLC Sponsored ADR will post -0.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Silence Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Silence Therapeutics by 18.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,063 shares of the company's stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,698 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP bought a new position in Silence Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth $138,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Silence Therapeutics by 903.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 29,773 shares of the company's stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 26,807 shares in the last quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Silence Therapeutics by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 156,759 shares of the company's stock worth $826,000 after purchasing an additional 9,159 shares during the period. Finally, ADAR1 Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Silence Therapeutics by 628.2% during the first quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 172,157 shares of the company's stock valued at $907,000 after purchasing an additional 148,514 shares during the period. 98.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Silence Therapeutics

Silence Therapeutics plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing medicines that use small interfering RNA (siRNA) to selectively reduce the production of disease-related proteins. Its approach is designed to intervene at the genetic messenger RNA stage, potentially providing targeted and durable effects for patients with serious diseases.

The company's proprietary mRNAi GOLD platform supports the design and delivery of siRNA medicines, including compounds intended to target tissues such as the liver.

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