Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Septerna, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEPN)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $40.38, but opened at $38.41. Septerna shares last traded at $37.86, with a volume of 12,176 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SEPN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Septerna from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Septerna from $38.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $49.00 target price on shares of Septerna in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. JonesTrading boosted their target price on shares of Septerna from $43.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.44.

Septerna Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -70.56 and a beta of 2.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.39 and a 200 day moving average of $32.10.

Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Septerna had a negative net margin of 24.51% and a negative return on equity of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $26.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.22 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Septerna, Inc. will post -1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Samira Shaikhly sold 2,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $76,622.04. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,897.74. This trade represents a 73.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Elizabeth Bhatt sold 25,000 shares of Septerna stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.00, for a total transaction of $1,100,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 174,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,665,196. This trade represents a 12.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 37,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,532,154. Company insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Septerna

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Light Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Septerna by 31.4% in the second quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 963,260 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,260,000 after buying an additional 230,400 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its stake in Septerna by 5.0% in the 2nd 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 period. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in Septerna by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 21,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $711,000 after acquiring an additional 3,136 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in Septerna in the 2nd quarter worth $445,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Septerna during the second quarter worth $1,201,000.

Septerna Company Profile

Septerna, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing oral small-molecule medicines that target G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). GPCRs are a large class of cell-surface proteins involved in numerous biological processes and are established targets for therapies across a range of diseases.

The company uses its proprietary Native Orthosteric Ligand Discovery platform to study GPCRs in their native cellular environments and identify small-molecule compounds that can modulate these receptors.