Stoke Therapeutics (NASDAQ:STOK) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

Key Points

• Stoke Therapeutics shares opened significantly higher at $37.69 after closing at $35.60, with over 799,000 shares traded.
• A number of brokerages have issued bullish ratings on the stock, with the consensus rating being a "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.83.
• Insider sales saw a notable decrease in ownership percentages, with General Counsel Jonathan Allan selling 14,922 shares, representing a 45.08% decrease in his stock holdings.

Stoke Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STOK - Get Free Report)'s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $35.60, but opened at $37.69. Stoke Therapeutics shares last traded at $37.48, with a volume of 799,338 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on STOK. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Stoke Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Stoke Therapeutics from $28.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Wedbush increased their price objective on Stoke Therapeutics from $16.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Stoke Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Chardan Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of Stoke Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.83.

Stoke Therapeutics Stock Up 0.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.17 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.21 and a 200 day moving average of $14.37.

Stoke Therapeutics (NASDAQ:STOK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.40) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.57) by $0.17. Stoke Therapeutics had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 26.25%.The firm had revenue of $13.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $31.51 million. Analysts predict that Stoke Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stoke Therapeutics news, General Counsel Jonathan Allan sold 14,922 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.14, for a total transaction of $300,529.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 18,176 shares in the company, valued at $366,064.64. This represents a 45.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Barry Ticho sold 5,501 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.87, for a total value of $109,304.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 18,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $366,979.03. This trade represents a 22.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 185,180 shares of company stock worth $4,129,406 over the last three months. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Stoke Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Stoke Therapeutics by 1,842.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 5,084 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Stoke Therapeutics by 66.2% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,186 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,668 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Stoke Therapeutics by 461.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,370 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 3,591 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in Stoke Therapeutics during the first quarter worth about $72,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Stoke Therapeutics by 9,743.9% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,222 shares of the company's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 11,108 shares during the last quarter.

About Stoke Therapeutics

Stoke Therapeutics, Inc, an early-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops medicines to treat the underlying causes of severe genetic diseases in the United States. The company utilizes its proprietary targeted augmentation of nuclear gene output to develop antisense oligonucleotides to selectively restore protein levels.

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