Insider Buying: Summit Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SMMT) CEO Purchases 100,000 Shares of Stock

Summit Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ:SMMT) CEO Robert Duggan acquired 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $14.60 per share, with a total value of $1,460,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 25,824,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,037,320.40. This represents a 0.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Summit Therapeutics Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of SMMT traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $14.84. 5,356,081 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,591,970. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.47. Summit Therapeutics PLC has a 52-week low of $13.83 and a 52-week high of $30.98. The company has a market cap of $11.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.28 and a beta of -1.32.

Summit Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SMMT) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.03. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Summit Therapeutics PLC will post -1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMMT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Summit Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Summit Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Summit Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “underperform” rating and a $7.70 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Summit Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Summit Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.05.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Summit Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SMMT. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Summit Therapeutics by 106.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,371,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,907,000 after purchasing an additional 4,832,592 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Summit Therapeutics by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,379,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,105,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,056 shares during the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Summit Therapeutics by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 36,391,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $636,480,000 after purchasing an additional 2,668,089 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Summit Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $24,030,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Summit Therapeutics by 124.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,205,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,080,000 after acquiring an additional 667,742 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 4.61% of the company’s stock.

About Summit Therapeutics

Summit Therapeutics plc is a clinical?stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of precision medicines for serious and life?threatening diseases. The company applies a targeted approach to drug design, focusing on novel mechanisms of action that differentiate its candidates from existing therapies.

Summit’s lead asset, ridinilazole (formerly SMT19969), is being developed to treat Clostridioides difficile infections and has received both Fast Track and Qualified Infectious Disease Product designations from the U.S.