Stoke Therapeutics (NASDAQ:STOK) Stock Price Down 7.9% – Should You Sell?

Stoke Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:STOK) fell 7.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $30.32 and last traded at $30.42. Approximately 249,517 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 751,333 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on STOK shares. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of Stoke Therapeutics in a report on Monday, May 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on shares of Stoke Therapeutics from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wedbush raised their price target on Stoke Therapeutics from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Stoke Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Stoke Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.00.

Stoke Therapeutics Stock Down 7.9%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $30.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.23. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.11 and a beta of 1.20.

Stoke Therapeutics (NASDAQ:STOK) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.80) by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $9.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.89 million. Stoke Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 59.36% and a negative net margin of 753.60%. On average, analysts predict that Stoke Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Barry Ticho sold 4,767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.03, for a total transaction of $152,687.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 25,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $821,729.65. This represents a 15.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Edward M. Md Kaye sold 12,567 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.03, for a total transaction of $402,521.01. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 124,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,989,560.71. The trade was a 9.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 30,623 shares of company stock worth $953,765 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 9.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stoke Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in STOK. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Stoke Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $192,307,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stoke Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $59,358,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Stoke Therapeutics by 333.8% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,450,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,031,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,452 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Stoke Therapeutics by 75.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,498,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,072,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Stoke Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $7,489,000.

About Stoke Therapeutics

Stoke Therapeutics, headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing genetic medicines to upregulate protein production for the treatment of rare neuromuscular and neurological disorders. Founded in 2014, the company applies its proprietary Targeted Augmentation of Nuclear Gene Output (TANGO™) platform to design antisense oligonucleotides that selectively modulate RNA splicing and enhance expression of functional proteins.

The company’s lead program, STK-001, is an antisense oligonucleotide therapy designed to increase production of the sodium channel protein SCN1A and is currently in clinical development for Dravet syndrome, a severe childhood-onset epilepsy.