Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SLN) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Silence Therapeutics PLC Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:SLN) shares hit a new 52-week high on Friday. The stock traded as high as $19.86 and last traded at $19.8350, with a volume of 436,647 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on SLN. Chardan Capital cut Silence Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. William Blair lowered Silence Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Silence Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Silence Therapeutics from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, HC Wainwright downgraded Silence Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $75.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

Silence Therapeutics Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $14.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.50 and a beta of 1.34.

Silence Therapeutics (NASDAQ:SLN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11) by ($0.13). Silence Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 8,943.86% and a negative return on equity of 106.94%. As a group, analysts forecast that Silence Therapeutics PLC Sponsored ADR will post -0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Silence Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp purchased a new stake in Silence Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at $238,000. Aberdeen Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Silence Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,207,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Silence Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Silence Therapeutics by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 8,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in shares of Silence Therapeutics by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 115,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 26,449 shares during the period. 98.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Silence Therapeutics Company Profile

Silence Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing medicines based on RNA interference (RNAi), a biological process that can reduce production of specific disease-related proteins. Its proprietary mRNAi GOLD platform is designed to create small interfering RNA (siRNA) medicines, including treatments that target genes expressed in the liver. The company’s research and development programs have included zerlasiran, which targets lipoprotein(a), a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and divesiran, investigated for blood disorders.