Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) Upgraded by Guggenheim to Strong-Buy Rating

Guggenheim upgraded shares of Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

SEPN has been the topic of several other research reports. Zacks Research raised Septerna from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Septerna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Septerna in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Septerna from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Septerna in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.78.

Septerna Stock Up 11.7%

Shares of SEPN opened at $34.03 on Thursday. Septerna has a 12-month low of $9.85 and a 12-month high of $34.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of -42.01 and a beta of 2.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.73.

Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.23. Septerna had a negative return on equity of 12.72% and a negative net margin of 49.88%.The business had revenue of $26.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.98 million. Analysts anticipate that Septerna will post -1.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Septerna news, insider Samira Shaikhly sold 11,798 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.06, for a total value of $354,647.88. Following the transaction, the insider owned 793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,837.58. This represents a 93.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 value of $97,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 174,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,247.06. The trade was a 2.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 21,733 shares of company stock worth $623,707 in the last three months. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Septerna

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Septerna by 8.1% during the third quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,337,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,158,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Septerna during the first quarter worth about $906,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Septerna during the first quarter worth about $21,334,000. Swiss National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Septerna during the first quarter worth about $531,000. Finally, First Light Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Septerna by 18.0% during the first quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 732,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,611,000 after purchasing an additional 112,049 shares during the period.

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.