Wedbush Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT) Stock Price

Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT) had its price target cut by analysts at Wedbush from $34.00 to $29.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the biotechnology company’s stock. Wedbush’s price target points to a potential upside of 79.18% from the company’s current price.

SRPT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $21.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. HC Wainwright restated a “sell” rating on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $20.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Sarepta Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.36.

Sarepta Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SRPT opened at $16.19 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.95, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Sarepta Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $10.41 and a 52-week high of $107.77.

Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The biotechnology company reported ($3.58) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by ($2.71). The company had revenue of $442.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $390.95 million. Sarepta Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 38.34% and a negative return on equity of 50.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sarepta Therapeutics will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sarepta Therapeutics news, COO Ian Michael Estepan sold 13,187 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.31, for a total value of $294,201.97. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 193,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,312,523. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sarepta Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Sarepta Therapeutics by 340.7% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 95,752 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,061,000 after buying an additional 74,027 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Sarepta Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Sarepta Therapeutics by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 58,042 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,245,000 after acquiring an additional 8,494 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 166.5% during the 4th quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 31,741 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 19,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 251.9% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,000,109 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $21,522,000 after purchasing an additional 715,899 shares during the last quarter. 86.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sarepta Therapeutics

Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of precision genetic medicines for rare neuromuscular diseases. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Sarepta’s core expertise lies in designing RNA-targeted therapies and gene therapies that address underlying genetic mutations. The company’s mission is to transform the treatment paradigm for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and related disorders through innovative modalities.

Sarepta’s commercial products include several exon-skipping therapies approved by the U.S.