Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) Trading Up 4.8% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Septerna, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEPN) were up 4.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $39.19 and last traded at $39.1640. 82,861 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 358,067 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.37.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $49.00 target price on Septerna in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Septerna from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. JonesTrading upped their price objective on shares of Septerna from $43.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Septerna from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Septerna from $38.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.44.

Septerna Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.32. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -71.49 and a beta of 2.30.

Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $26.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.22 million. Septerna had a negative return on equity of 9.57% and a negative net margin of 24.51%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Septerna, Inc. will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Septerna

In other news, COO Elizabeth Bhatt sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $1,100,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 174,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,665,196. This trade represents a 12.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Samira Shaikhly sold 2,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $76,622.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,897.74. The trade was a 73.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 58,428 shares of company stock valued at $2,284,054 over the last 90 days. 5.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Septerna

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SEPN. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Septerna by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 14,879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its stake in Septerna by 5.0% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 17,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,000 after acquiring an additional 822 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Septerna in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Septerna by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Septerna by 17.5% during the third quarter. PharVision Advisers LLC now owns 11,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780 shares during the period.

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.