PepGen Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:PEPG)

PepGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEPG) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 8,402 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 2,022% compared to the average daily volume of 396 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepGen

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commodore Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of PepGen by 31.6% during the first quarter. Commodore Capital LP now owns 4,475,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,000 shares in the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in PepGen in the second quarter worth $4,664,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in PepGen in the second quarter worth $2,348,000. Kalehua Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in PepGen in the first quarter worth $1,770,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in PepGen in the second quarter valued at $1,535,000. 58.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PepGen Price Performance

Shares of PEPG traded up $2.93 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $5.32. 80,050,734 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,376,396. PepGen has a one year low of $1.31 and a one year high of $7.80. The firm has a market cap of $368.19 million, a P/E ratio of -4.02 and a beta of 2.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $2.66 and a 200-day moving average of $2.98.

PepGen (NASDAQ:PEPG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.28) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.01). Sell-side analysts forecast that PepGen will post -1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PEPG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of PepGen from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of PepGen in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised PepGen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PepGen presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.40.

PepGen Company Profile

PepGen Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing genetic medicines for serious neuromuscular diseases. The company’s technology is designed to improve the delivery of oligonucleotide therapeutics into skeletal and cardiac muscle, with the goal of addressing diseases caused by genetic mutations or abnormal RNA processing.

PepGen’s platform, known as Enhanced Delivery Oligonucleotides (EDO), combines therapeutic oligonucleotides with proprietary peptides intended to facilitate their distribution into muscle tissue.