Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Septerna, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEPN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $38.04 and last traded at $37.7610, with a volume of 462037 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim cut their target price on Septerna from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Septerna in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Septerna in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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, Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Septerna from $47.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.89.

Septerna Trading Down 5.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -44.36 and a beta of 2.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $31.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.95.

Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $26.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that Septerna, Inc. will post -1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Samira Shaikhly sold 11,798 shares of Septerna stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.06, for a total value of $354,647.88. Following the sale, the insider owned 793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,837.58. This trade represents a 93.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Daniel D. Long sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.51, for a total value of $532,650.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 96,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,423,590.12. This trade represents a 13.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 48,494 shares of company stock worth $1,566,751. 5.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Septerna by 86.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,715,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,698,000 after buying an additional 1,260,409 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new position in shares of Septerna during the 1st quarter worth about $21,334,000. First Light Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Septerna in the 4th quarter valued at about $17,308,000. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Septerna in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,225,000. Finally, Perceptive Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Septerna in the second quarter valued at about $5,723,000.

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.