HC Wainwright Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN)

Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $40.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price target indicates a potential upside of 61.03% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on SEPN. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Septerna in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Septerna in a research report on Friday, May 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Septerna from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Septerna in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Septerna from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.13.

Septerna Price Performance

Shares of SEPN stock opened at $24.84 on Wednesday. Septerna has a 12 month low of $6.44 and a 12 month high of $32.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.67 and a beta of 2.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $25.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.44.

Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.23. The company had revenue of $26.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.98 million. Septerna had a negative net margin of 49.88% and a negative return on equity of 12.68%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Septerna will post -1.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Septerna news, insider Samira Shaikhly sold 70,453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total value of $1,979,729.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,283.30. This represents a 98.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Elizabeth Bhatt sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.34, for a total transaction of $97,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 174,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,240,247.06. This trade represents a 2.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,453 shares of company stock valued at $2,192,969. 4.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Septerna by 86.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,715,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260,409 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Septerna by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,518,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,568,000 after purchasing an additional 104,394 shares during the last quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Septerna by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,337,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,158,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC grew its position in Septerna by 38.9% in the 3rd quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 1,176,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,130,000 after purchasing an additional 329,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Light Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Septerna in the 4th quarter worth about $17,308,000.

About Septerna

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering a new era of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) oral small molecule drug discovery powered by our proprietary Native Complex Platform™. Our industrial-scale platform aims to unlock the full potential of GPCR therapies and has led to the discovery and development of our deep pipeline of product candidates focused initially on treating patients in three therapeutic areas: endocrinology, immunology and inflammation, and metabolic diseases. GPCRs are the largest and most diverse family of cell membrane receptors and regulate physiological processes in nearly every organ system of the human body.