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

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

Sarepta Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Sarepta Therapeutics stock opened at $79.97 on Thursday. Sarepta Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $73.06 and a 52 week high of $173.25. The company has a quick ratio of 3.03, a current ratio of 3.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.98 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sarepta Therapeutics

In other news, Director Claude Nicaise sold 2,491 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 27,812 shares in the company, valued at $2,771,187.68. This represents a 8.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 7.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SRPT. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings 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 valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 446.2% during the 3rd 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 raised its holdings in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 150.9% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 291 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Sarepta Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 86.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Sarepta Therapeutics from $165.00 to $161.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Sarepta Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $202.00 target price on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank initiated 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 target price on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $124.00 to $99.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sarepta Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.55.

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.