Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Sarepta Therapeutics shares experienced a significant drop, gapping down from a closing price of $12.88 to an opening price of $11.14 following an analyst downgrade by Jefferies Financial Group, which lowered their price target from $40.00 to $35.00.
• Multiple analysts have recently changed their ratings on Sarepta, with a notable downgrade from Baird R W from "strong-buy" to "hold," and a similar action taken by Needham & Company LLC on the same day.
• Institutional investors are increasing their stakes in Sarepta, with Inspire Investing and Aberdeen Group increasing their holdings significantly during the second quarter.
• Although the company reported a revenue increase of 80.2% year-over-year, it posted a loss of $3.42 EPS, which was below analysts' expectations.

Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $35.00. The stock had previously closed at $12.88, but opened at $11.14. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Sarepta Therapeutics shares last traded at $12.00, with a volume of 3,387,871 shares traded.

SRPT has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Sarepta Therapeutics from $65.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Baird R W downgraded Sarepta Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Sarepta Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Sarepta Therapeutics from $112.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Mizuho reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $14.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $51.42.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sarepta Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Sarepta Therapeutics by 82.9% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 27,700 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 12,553 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its holdings in Sarepta Therapeutics by 91.1% in the second quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 1,242,404 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $21,500,000 after purchasing an additional 592,125 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Sarepta Therapeutics by 542.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,282 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 2,771 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Sarepta Therapeutics by 150.4% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,673 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 2,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 111 Capital purchased a new position in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $434,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.68% of the company's stock.

Sarepta Therapeutics Stock Down 6.1%

The company's 50 day moving average price is $26.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.26. The firm has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of -4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 4.02, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($3.42) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.20 by ($5.62). The firm had revenue of $744.86 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $685.75 million. Sarepta Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 11.12% and a negative return on equity of 14.88%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 80.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sarepta Therapeutics Company Profile

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.

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