Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT)

Equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $165.00 price target on the biotechnology company's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price objective points to a potential upside of 29.60% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Sarepta Therapeutics from $226.00 to $203.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. William Blair raised Sarepta Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Sarepta Therapeutics from $176.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Sarepta Therapeutics from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $185.00 to $179.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $182.95.

Sarepta Therapeutics Price Performance

SRPT stock traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $127.31. 859,173 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,253,816. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.39. Sarepta Therapeutics has a one year low of $55.25 and a one year high of $173.25. The company has a market cap of $12.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,157.36 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 3.90, a quick ratio of 3.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.06. Sarepta Therapeutics had a return on equity of 5.32% and a net margin of 3.14%. The business had revenue of $362.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $394.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.27) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 38.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Sarepta Therapeutics will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Ian Michael Estepan sold 5,985 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.36, for a total transaction of $822,099.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 33,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,662,822.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Michael Andrew Chambers acquired 37,038 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $133.80 per share, with a total value of $4,955,684.40. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 284,034 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,003,749.20. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Ian Michael Estepan sold 5,985 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.36, for a total value of $822,099.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,946 shares in the company, valued at $4,662,822.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 7.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sarepta Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SRPT. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Sarepta Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Sarepta Therapeutics by 125.0% in the 1st quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 225 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Sarepta Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in Sarepta Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Sarepta Therapeutics by 37.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 322 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.68% of the company's stock.

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.