Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SLN) Stock Falls 6.4% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Silence Therapeutics shares fell 6.4% to about $9.03, with trading volume below its daily average. The stock remains below its 50-day moving average but near its 200-day average.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $53.50, though targets range widely from $25 to $75 and one firm maintains a sell rating.
• The company reported a quarterly loss of $0.26 per share, missing estimates by $0.12, and continues to show deeply negative profitability metrics. Institutional investors nevertheless own approximately 98.7% of the shares.

Silence Therapeutics PLC Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:SLN - Get Free Report)'s stock price dropped 6.4% on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $9.07 and last traded at $9.0330. Approximately 497,046 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 18% from the average daily volume of 607,693 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.65.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on SLN shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Silence Therapeutics from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Silence Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, July 17th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Silence Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Silence Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set an "overweight" rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $53.50.

Silence Therapeutics Stock Down 8.5%

The company has a market capitalization of $531.35 million, a P/E ratio of -6.90 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.51.

Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SLN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.12). Silence Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 106.94% and a negative net margin of 8,943.86%. Equities analysts forecast that Silence Therapeutics PLC Sponsored ADR will post -1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SLN. 5AM Venture Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Silence Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,228,676. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Silence Therapeutics by 11.8% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 286,698 shares of the company's stock worth $1,511,000 after buying an additional 30,358 shares during the period. Ishara Investments LP bought a new position in Silence Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,459,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Silence Therapeutics by 628.2% in the 1st quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 172,157 shares of the company's stock worth $907,000 after buying an additional 148,514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Fleet Capital Management LP increased its position in Silence Therapeutics by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 156,759 shares of the company's stock valued at $826,000 after acquiring an additional 9,159 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 98.73% of the company's stock.

About Silence Therapeutics

Silence Therapeutics plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing medicines that use RNA interference (RNAi) to selectively reduce the production of disease-causing proteins. The company's approach is designed to act at the genetic level by targeting specific messenger RNA molecules before they are translated into proteins.

Silence's research is supported by its proprietary mRNAi GOLD platform, which is intended to enable the development and delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) medicines.

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