Solid Biosciences (NASDAQ:SLDB) Given "Buy" Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham & Company reissued a "Buy" on Solid Biosciences (NASDAQ:SLDB) with a $19.00 price target—implying about a 166.85% upside
• Shares trade around $7.12 (52‑week range $2.41–$8.72) with a $554.7M market cap; the company reported a quarterly loss of $0.53 per share (missing estimates) and analysts expect about a -$2.84 EPS for the fiscal year.
• Insiders have sold heavily recently—about 597,672 shares worth roughly $3.82M over the past 90 days—leaving insider ownership at 1.90% while institutional investors hold ~81.46% of the stock.

Solid Biosciences (NASDAQ:SLDB - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $19.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's target price points to a potential upside of 166.85% from the stock's current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on SLDB. Citigroup reiterated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Solid Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of Solid Biosciences in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Chardan Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Solid Biosciences in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Solid Biosciences in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.00.

Solid Biosciences Price Performance

Shares of Solid Biosciences stock opened at $7.12 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $554.72 million, a P/E ratio of -2.86 and a beta of 2.65. Solid Biosciences has a 52 week low of $2.41 and a 52 week high of $8.72.

Solid Biosciences (NASDAQ:SLDB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.53) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.05). As a group, research analysts anticipate that Solid Biosciences will post -2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Solid Biosciences

In other Solid Biosciences news, insider Jessie Hanrahan sold 26,535 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.44, for a total value of $170,885.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 82,675 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $532,427. This represents a 24.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevin Tan sold 26,837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.44, for a total value of $172,830.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 108,984 shares in the company, valued at $701,856.96. This represents a 19.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 597,672 shares of company stock valued at $3,816,546 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bollard Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Solid Biosciences during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,761,000. Boxer Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Solid Biosciences during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,702,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Solid Biosciences by 184.5% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,510,153 shares of the company's stock worth $7,356,000 after acquiring an additional 979,294 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Solid Biosciences by 28.9% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,599,173 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,788,000 after acquiring an additional 358,473 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Solid Biosciences in the 2nd quarter valued at about $80,000. 81.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Solid Biosciences Company Profile

Solid Biosciences Inc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company focused on the development of therapies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a rare genetic disorder characterized by progressive muscle degeneration. The company's primary approach centers on gene replacement and gene editing technologies designed to restore functional dystrophin protein in patients lacking this critical muscle‐stabilizing protein.

Solid's lead investigational therapy, SGT‐001, is a micro‐dystrophin gene therapy candidate engineered to deliver a shortened but functional form of the dystrophin gene using an adeno‐associated virus (AAV) vector.

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