Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT)

Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 1,796 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 15% compared to the average daily volume of 1,556 call options.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Claude Nicaise sold 2,491 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 27,812 shares in the company, valued at $2,771,187.68. The trade was a 8.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 7.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sarepta Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SRPT. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Sarepta Therapeutics by 86.6% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 237 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 169.6% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 248 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 446.2% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 284 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 150.9% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 291 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SRPT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $165.00 to $161.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $163.00 price objective on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $124.00 to $99.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.55.

Sarepta Therapeutics Trading Up 7.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ SRPT traded up $5.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $78.85. 1,538,318 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,166,327. The firm has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.27 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 3.03 and a current ratio of 3.84. Sarepta Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $73.06 and a 12-month high of $173.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $110.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.13.

Sarepta Therapeutics Company Profile

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.