PepGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEPG) Short Interest Update

PepGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEPG) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 3,347,565 shares, an increase of 26.1% from the February 26th total of 2,654,341 shares. Currently, 5.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 969,026 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Trending Headlines about PepGen

Here are the key news stories impacting PepGen this week:

• Positive Sentiment: PepGen reported favorable safety, splicing and vHOT biomarker data from the 5 mg/kg MAD cohort and framed the totality of results as encouraging — the company says higher doses could address efficacy questions. PepGen Announces Topline Results (BusinessWire)
• Positive Sentiment: A Seeking Alpha transcript of management’s comments on the lowest‑dose cohort reiterates the favorable safety and biomarker findings, providing more color for investors watching next steps and dose escalation plans. PEPG Discusses Topline Results (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: Wedbush cut its price target from $9 to $5 but kept an Outperform rating — an analyst reset that signals calibrated optimism (still bullish on upside) despite the new data. Wedbush Lowers PT (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Trading was temporarily halted around the release for “News pending,” which is typical for material clinical updates but contributed to rapid price moves when trading resumed.
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: multiple outlets reported steep sell‑offs after the mixed FREEDOM2 readout — investors appear to have focused on limited efficacy signal at the lowest dose and uncertainty around timing/impact of higher‑dose data. PepGen Plunges On Mixed Phase 2 Data (Seeking Alpha)
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage emphasized a sharp share price decline and investor concern about commercial prospects if efficacy requires higher dosing; this accelerated selling pressure. PepGen Loses Half of Share Price (BioSpace)
• Negative Sentiment: Two law firms (Pomerantz, Johnson Fistel) announced investor investigations into PepGen, a development that typically increases short‑term downside risk and legal overhang. Pomerantz Investigation (GlobeNewswire) Johnson Fistel Notice (GlobeNewswire)

PepGen Trading Down 57.4%

Shares of PepGen stock traded down $2.43 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $1.80. The stock had a trading volume of 26,587,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 886,585. The company has a market capitalization of $124.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.75 and a beta of 1.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.22. PepGen has a 52 week low of $0.88 and a 52 week high of $7.80.

PepGen (NASDAQ:PEPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported ($0.27) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by $0.13. On average, equities analysts forecast that PepGen will post -2.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush decreased their price objective on PepGen from $9.00 to $5.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of PepGen in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $15.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of PepGen from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of PepGen in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given 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 $11.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepGen

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PEPG. RA Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of PepGen by 87.7% in the third quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 20,064,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,698,000 after purchasing an additional 9,375,000 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP grew its position in PepGen by 134.9% in the third quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 3,482,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,089,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Commodore Capital LP grew its position in PepGen by 44.2% in the fourth quarter. Commodore Capital LP now owns 3,400,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,681 shares in the last quarter. Vivo Capital LLC acquired a new stake in PepGen in the 3rd quarter valued at $10,742,000. Finally, Laurion Capital Management LP increased its stake in PepGen by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Laurion Capital Management LP now owns 2,052,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,359,000 after buying an additional 159,977 shares during the last quarter. 58.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About PepGen

PepGen, Inc (NASDAQ: PEPG) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company headquartered in San Diego, California. The company is developing precision gene editing therapies to address rare genetic diseases by combining advanced prime editing modalities with proprietary delivery technologies. PepGen’s platform is designed to achieve targeted and durable correction of disease-causing mutations in vivo, with the goal of providing long-lasting therapeutic benefit after a single administration.

The company’s lead development programs include PPG-001 for mucopolysaccharidosis type II (Hunter syndrome) and PPG-002 for mucopolysaccharidosis type I (Hurler syndrome).