Spero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SPRO) Stock Price Passes Above 50-Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Technical breakout: SPRO traded up to $2.61 on Monday, passing its 50-day moving average of $2.35 on volume of about 478,730 shares.
• Earnings beat but cautious outlook: Spero reported Q results of $0.53 EPS (vs. -$0.20 est.) and $41.3M revenue (vs. $26M est.), yet analysts still forecast -1.2 EPS for the year and the stock's consensus rating is "Reduce."
• Mixed market sentiment and ownership moves: Wall Street Zen upgraded to a "strong-buy" while Weiss reaffirmed a "sell," GSK acquired a new $21.4M stake, and insider Esther Rajavelu sold ~87,917 shares.

Spero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRO - Get Free Report) passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $2.35 and traded as high as $2.61. Spero Therapeutics shares last traded at $2.61, with a volume of 478,730 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPRO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Spero Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Spero Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce".

Spero Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $151.09 million, a PE ratio of 21.75 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.33.

Spero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SPRO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.20) by $0.73. The business had revenue of $41.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.00 million. Spero Therapeutics had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 12.83%. Equities research analysts forecast that Spero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Spero Therapeutics

In other news, insider Esther Rajavelu sold 87,917 shares of Spero Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.36, for a total value of $207,484.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,012,091 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,388,534.76. The trade was a 7.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Spero Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SPRO. GSK plc purchased a new stake in shares of Spero Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $21,414,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Spero Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $283,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Spero Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $306,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Spero Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $278,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Spero Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 25.60% of the company's stock.

Spero Therapeutics Company Profile

Spero Therapeutics is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies to address multidrug‐resistant bacterial infections. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, the company aims to advance a pipeline of oral and intravenous antibiotic candidates designed to treat serious infectious diseases that pose significant public health challenges.

The company's lead candidate, tebipenem HBr, is an oral carbapenem antibiotic being developed for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections caused by resistant Gram‐negative pathogens.

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