Norges Bank Buys Shares of 1,038,861 Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,038,861 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,315,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.09% of Sarepta Therapeutics at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SRPT. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 32.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,726,613 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $340,527,000 after purchasing an additional 665,087 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 14.2% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,358,511 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $544,408,000 after acquiring an additional 543,143 shares during the last quarter. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $25,800,000. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $16,706,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Sarepta Therapeutics by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,085,456 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,104,701,000 after purchasing an additional 117,904 shares in the last quarter. 86.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRPT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $161.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Monday. HC Wainwright reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $202.00 price target on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on Sarepta Therapeutics from $124.00 to $99.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sarepta Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.05.

Sarepta Therapeutics Stock Down 9.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ SRPT opened at $63.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.06 and a beta of 0.79. Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.50 and a 1 year high of $173.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a current ratio of 3.84. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $101.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Claude Nicaise sold 2,491 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.64, for a total transaction of $248,203.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,771,187.68. This trade represents a 8.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 7.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Sarepta Therapeutics

Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapeutics, gene therapies, and other genetic therapeutic modalities for the treatment of rare diseases. It offers EXONDYS 51 injection to treat duchenne muscular dystrophy (duchenne) in patients with confirmed mutation of the dystrophin gene that is amenable to exon 51 skipping; VYONDYS 53 for the treatment of duchenne in patients with confirmed mutation of the dystrophin gene that is amenable to exon 53 skipping; AMONDYS 45 for the treatment of duchenne in patients with confirmed mutation of the dystrophin gene; and ELEVIDYS, an adeno-associated virus based gene therapy for the treatment of ambulatory pediatric patients aged 4 through 5 years with duchenne with a confirmed mutation in the duchenne gene.