Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $130.90, but opened at $140.00. Sarepta Therapeutics shares last traded at $136.00, with a volume of 574,101 shares trading hands.

The biotechnology company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $413.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $375.52 million. Sarepta Therapeutics had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 1.20%. Sarepta Therapeutics’s revenue for the quarter was up 63.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.44) earnings per share.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on SRPT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $177.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $224.00 price objective on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on Sarepta Therapeutics from $141.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Sarepta Therapeutics from $108.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Sarepta Therapeutics from $151.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sarepta Therapeutics

In other news, Director Kathryn Jean Boor sold 761 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.93, for a total value of $93,549.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $923,941.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Sarepta Therapeutics news, insider Bilal Arif sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.84, for a total value of $257,680.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 26,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,457,550.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kathryn Jean Boor sold 761 shares of Sarepta Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.93, for a total value of $93,549.73. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $923,941.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,096 shares of company stock valued at $2,739,419. 7.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sarepta Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Sarepta Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Sarepta Therapeutics by 154.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 254 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Sarepta Therapeutics by 37.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 322 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.68% of the company’s stock.

Sarepta Therapeutics Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $12.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.84 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 3.95, a quick ratio of 3.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.70.

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.