Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT) Shares Gap Up After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $130.90, but opened at $140.00. Sarepta Therapeutics shares last traded at $136.00, with a volume of 574,101 shares changing hands.

The biotechnology company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.84. The company had revenue of $413.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $375.52 million. Sarepta Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 43.11% and a negative return on equity of 18.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 63.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.44) earnings per share.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SRPT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $141.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $151.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $166.00 price objective on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $224.00 price objective on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Hans Lennart Rudolf Wigzell sold 15,000 shares of Sarepta Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.25, for a total transaction of $1,848,750.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,840 shares in the company, valued at $2,815,030. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Bilal Arif sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.84, for a total value of $257,680.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 26,836 shares in the company, valued at $3,457,550.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Hans Lennart Rudolf Wigzell sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.25, for a total transaction of $1,848,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 22,840 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,815,030. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,096 shares of company stock worth $2,739,419 over the last quarter. Insiders own 7.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sarepta Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SRPT. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Sarepta Therapeutics by 160.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,741,485 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $457,221,000 after buying an additional 2,917,797 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sarepta Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $80,697,000. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new position in Sarepta Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $50,990,000. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Sarepta Therapeutics by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,344,444 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $418,935,000 after buying an additional 319,444 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC purchased a new position in Sarepta Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $29,813,000. Institutional investors own 86.68% of the company’s stock.

Sarepta Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 3.45, a current ratio of 3.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.56. The company has a market capitalization of $12.86 billion, a PE ratio of -22.97 and a beta of 0.95.

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.