Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.84. The business had revenue of $413.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $375.52 million. Sarepta Therapeutics had a return on equity of 2.32% and a net margin of 1.20%. The firm’s revenue was up 63.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.44) EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on SRPT. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $108.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. TheStreet upgraded Sarepta Therapeutics from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. 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. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sarepta Therapeutics news, Director Kathryn Jean Boor sold 761 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.93, for a total transaction of $93,549.73. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $923,941.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Kathryn Jean Boor sold 761 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.93, for a total transaction of $93,549.73. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $923,941.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bilal Arif sold 2,000 shares of Sarepta Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.84, for a total value of $257,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 26,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,457,550.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,096 shares of company stock valued at $2,739,419 in the last 90 days. 7.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sarepta Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Sarepta Therapeutics by 0.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,572,944 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,039,212,000 after purchasing an additional 41,465 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Sarepta Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,576,000. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Sarepta Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $600,000. Capula Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Sarepta Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $1,409,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 51,398 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $4,956,000 after purchasing an additional 3,912 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.68% of the company’s stock.

Sarepta Therapeutics Stock Up 2.3 %

The company has a market cap 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $125.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.70.

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.