Septerna, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEPN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Septerna, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEPN) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, eight have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.8889.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SEPN. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Septerna from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Septerna in a report on Friday, May 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Septerna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Septerna in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Septerna from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday.

Septerna Stock Performance

SEPN opened at $34.00 on Friday. Septerna has a 52-week low of $10.62 and a 52-week high of $37.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a PE ratio of -41.97 and a beta of 2.28. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.61.

Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $26.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.98 million. Septerna had a negative return on equity of 12.72% and a negative net margin of 49.88%. On average, research analysts forecast that Septerna will post -1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Septerna

In other news, COO Elizabeth Bhatt sold 4,000 shares of Septerna stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.34, for a total transaction of $97,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 174,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,240,247.06. The trade was a 2.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Daniel D. Long sold 3,333 shares of Septerna stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.36, for a total value of $114,521.88. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 96,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,312,716.32. This represents a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,494 shares of company stock worth $1,566,751. Insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Septerna

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Septerna by 6.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 58,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,411,000 after purchasing an additional 3,377 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in shares of Septerna in the first quarter valued at about $21,334,000. Swiss National Bank bought a new position in shares of Septerna in the first quarter valued at about $531,000. Finally, First Light Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Septerna by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 732,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,611,000 after buying an additional 112,049 shares during the last quarter.

Septerna Company Profile

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.