Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $39.99, but opened at $41.01. Sarepta Therapeutics shares last traded at $42.23, with a volume of 2,287,402 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on SRPT shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $87.00 to $58.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on Sarepta Therapeutics from $163.00 to $81.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Sarepta Therapeutics from $178.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Sarepta Therapeutics from $115.00 to $100.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Sarepta Therapeutics from $124.00 to $99.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sarepta Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $122.61.

Sarepta Therapeutics Trading Down 2.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32 and a beta of 0.85. The business's fifty day moving average is $54.60 and its 200 day moving average is $94.21. The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 3.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($3.42) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.20 by ($5.62). The firm had revenue of $744.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $685.75 million. Sarepta Therapeutics had a net margin of 7.43% and a return on equity of 11.00%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 80.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sarepta Therapeutics news, Director Claude Nicaise sold 2,491 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.64, for a total transaction of $248,203.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,812 shares in the company, valued at $2,771,187.68. This trade represents a 8.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 7.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sarepta Therapeutics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,085,456 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,104,701,000 after acquiring an additional 117,904 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Sarepta Therapeutics by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,697,137 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,057,482,000 after purchasing an additional 2,437,855 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,865,100 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $348,368,000 after acquiring an additional 285,100 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Sarepta Therapeutics by 27.9% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,646,619 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $168,907,000 after buying an additional 577,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,997,991 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $127,512,000 after buying an additional 41,408 shares during the last quarter. 86.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sarepta Therapeutics

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.