Replimune Group (NASDAQ:REPL) Earns "Market Perform" Rating from Leerink Partners

Key Points

• Leerink Partners reissued a "market perform" rating on REPL with a $2 price target (down from $11), implying roughly a 58% downside, and multiple firms have cut targets—the stock's consensus rating is Reduce with an average price target of $4.75.
• The FDA issued a Complete Response Letter for Replimune's lead candidate RP1, delaying approval and increasing cash‑burn and commercialization uncertainty, and media reports note a related securities‑fraud investigation that raises potential litigation risk.
• Shares opened around $4.77 with a market cap of about $394 million and a 52‑week range of $2.68–$13.24; insiders own 5.2% of the company and one insider sold 6,500 shares under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan.

Replimune Group (NASDAQ:REPL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market perform" rating reissued by stock analysts at Leerink Partners in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $2.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $11.00. Leerink Partners' target price would indicate a potential downside of 58.08% from the stock's previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on REPL. Piper Sandler downgraded Replimune Group from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $4.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $2.00 price target (down from $19.00) on shares of Replimune Group in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Replimune Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of Replimune Group in a report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $2.00 price objective (down from $13.00) on shares of Replimune Group in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $4.75.

Replimune Group Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of REPL opened at $4.77 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $7.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 5.60 and a current ratio of 5.60. The company has a market capitalization of $393.94 million, a PE ratio of -1.39 and a beta of 0.74. Replimune Group has a fifty-two week low of $2.68 and a fifty-two week high of $13.24.

Replimune Group (NASDAQ:REPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported ($0.77) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.08. As a group, analysts forecast that Replimune Group will post -2.97 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christopher Sarchi sold 6,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.01, for a total transaction of $52,065.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 151,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,214,219.88. This represents a 4.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Replimune Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fcpm Iii Services B.V. boosted its position in Replimune Group by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fcpm Iii Services B.V. now owns 4,158,368 shares of the company's stock worth $17,424,000 after purchasing an additional 248,672 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in Replimune Group by 13,597.5% during the 3rd quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,630,000 shares of the company's stock worth $7,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618,100 shares during the period. Braidwell LP boosted its position in Replimune Group by 550.3% during the 3rd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 2,750,092 shares of the company's stock worth $11,523,000 after purchasing an additional 2,327,205 shares during the period. Readystate Asset Management LP boosted its position in Replimune Group by 1,296.2% during the 3rd quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP now owns 2,621,012 shares of the company's stock worth $10,982,000 after purchasing an additional 2,433,292 shares during the period. Finally, Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Replimune Group during the 3rd quarter worth $2,727,000. 92.53% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Replimune Group News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Replimune Group this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Piper Sandler cut REPL to Neutral, signaling reduced confidence from that shop; this is a downgrade that removes prior positive conviction. Piper Sandler Cut to Neutral
• Negative Sentiment: FDA issued a complete response letter for RP1’s BLA for advanced melanoma — the agency rejection increases uncertainty on approval timing and market entry for Replimune’s lead asset. FDA rejects Replimune’s skin cancer drug again
• Negative Sentiment: Replimune confirmed receipt of a Complete Response Letter from the FDA for RP1’s BLA, formally delaying approval prospects and likely extending cash burn before any commercialization. Company announcement on CRL
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple broker actions: Jefferies reaffirmed a “hold” but slashed its price target to $2 (from $13), Wedbush reaffirmed “neutral” and cut its PT to $2 (from $19), JPMorgan kept an “underweight” rating, and HC Wainwright reiterated a “sell.” These large PT cuts and sell/underweight stances increase selling pressure. Analyst downgrades and PT cuts Wedbush note
• Negative Sentiment: After the FDA letter, media/legal outlets report a securities fraud investigation announcement by BFA Law tied to the FDA response, raising potential litigation and disclosure risk for the company. Securities fraud investigation report

About Replimune Group

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.