Septerna, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEPN) Short Interest Up 12.9% in April

Septerna, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEPN) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,457,303 shares, an increase of 12.9% from the March 31st total of 2,176,719 shares. Currently, 5.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 304,769 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SEPN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Septerna in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Septerna from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Septerna from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Septerna in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Septerna from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.13.

Septerna Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Septerna stock opened at $23.61 on Friday. Septerna has a 52-week low of $6.41 and a 52-week high of $32.63. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.34. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.27 and a beta of 2.22.

Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.01). Septerna had a negative return on equity of 15.85% and a negative net margin of 106.37%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Septerna will post -1.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Septerna

In other Septerna news, insider Samira Shaikhly sold 70,453 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total value of $1,979,729.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,283.30. This represents a 98.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Elizabeth Bhatt sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.34, for a total transaction of $97,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 174,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,240,247.06. The trade was a 2.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 78,453 shares of company stock valued at $2,192,969. 4.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Septerna

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SEPN. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Septerna by 94.2% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 582,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,373,000 after purchasing an additional 282,585 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Septerna by 16.6% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 23,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 3,323 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Septerna by 19.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 487,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,158,000 after buying an additional 78,316 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Septerna by 15.0% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 1,315 shares during the period. Finally, CW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Septerna during the second quarter worth approximately $133,000.

About Septerna

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering a new era of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) oral small molecule drug discovery powered by our proprietary Native Complex Platform™. Our industrial-scale platform aims to unlock the full potential of GPCR therapies and has led to the discovery and development of our deep pipeline of product candidates focused initially on treating patients in three therapeutic areas: endocrinology, immunology and inflammation, and metabolic diseases. GPCRs are the largest and most diverse family of cell membrane receptors and regulate physiological processes in nearly every organ system of the human body.