Septerna, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEPN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Septerna, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEPN) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $43.1429.

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Septerna in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Septerna from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Septerna in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Septerna from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th.

Insider Activity at Septerna

In other Septerna news, insider Samira Shaikhly sold 70,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.10, for a total transaction of $1,979,729.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,283.30. This trade represents a 98.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Elizabeth Bhatt sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.97, for a total value of $115,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 174,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,046,834.73. This trade represents a 2.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Septerna

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SEPN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Septerna by 86.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,715,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,698,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260,409 shares during the last quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Septerna during the fourth quarter worth about $17,308,000. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of Septerna during the fourth quarter worth about $15,225,000. Perceptive Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Septerna in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,723,000. Finally, VR Adviser LLC acquired a new position in shares of Septerna in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,713,000.

Septerna Trading Up 3.1%

SEPN stock opened at $24.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.30 and a 200-day moving average of $24.42. The company has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.65 and a beta of 3.46. Septerna has a 12-month low of $4.66 and a 12-month high of $32.63.

Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $24.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.44 million. Septerna had a negative return on equity of 15.85% and a negative net margin of 106.37%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Septerna will post -7.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Septerna Company Profile

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.