Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT) Rating Lowered to “Sector Perform” at Royal Bank of Canada

Sarepta Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SRPT) was downgraded by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $87.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $161.00. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target points to a potential upside of 40.53% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on SRPT. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $163.00 price target on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $202.00 price objective on shares of Sarepta Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Sarepta Therapeutics from $124.00 to $99.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sarepta Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.05.

Sarepta Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SRPT opened at $61.91 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.53 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 3.84 and a quick ratio of 3.03. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.03. Sarepta Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $61.53 and a 12 month high of $173.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sarepta Therapeutics news, Director Claude Nicaise sold 2,491 shares of Sarepta Therapeutics 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 27,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,771,187.68. The trade was a 8.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 7.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sarepta Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Sarepta Therapeutics by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 26,500 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,222,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,988 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 86.6% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 237 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 36.0% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 521 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Sarepta Therapeutics by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,851 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.68% of the company’s stock.

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.