Replimune Group (NASDAQ:REPL) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Replimune Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:REPL)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after BMO Capital Markets upgraded the stock from an underperform rating to an outperform rating. The stock had previously closed at $11.20, but opened at $12.00. BMO Capital Markets now has a $16.00 price target on the stock. Replimune Group shares last traded at $11.3010, with a volume of 746,935 shares changing hands.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on REPL. Leerink Partners reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $2.00 target price (down from $11.00) on shares of Replimune Group in a research note on Monday, April 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Replimune Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $17.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $2.00 price objective (down from $13.00) on shares of Replimune Group in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Replimune Group from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut Replimune Group from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christopher Sarchi sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.24, for a total transaction of $110,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 180,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,672,088.88. This trade represents a 6.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Replimune Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fcpm Iii Services B.V. boosted its position in shares of Replimune Group by 6.4% in the third quarter. Fcpm Iii Services B.V. now owns 4,158,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,424,000 after acquiring an additional 248,672 shares during the period. Braidwell LP grew its position in Replimune Group by 550.3% in the 3rd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 2,750,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,523,000 after purchasing an additional 2,327,205 shares during the last quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Replimune Group in the 3rd quarter worth $2,727,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Replimune Group during the 4th quarter worth about $6,942,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Replimune Group during the 4th quarter worth about $598,000. 92.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Replimune Group Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $6.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.29. The firm has a market cap of $917.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.22 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 5.60, a current ratio of 5.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Replimune Group (NASDAQ:REPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, June 29th. The company reported ($0.76) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.66) by ($0.10). Equities research analysts predict that Replimune Group, Inc. will post -3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

About Replimune Group

Replimune Group, Inc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company focused on developing next‐generation oncolytic immunotherapies for the treatment of solid tumors. The company’s proprietary “RP” platform leverages genetically engineered herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) vectors armed with immunomodulatory payloads to selectively infect, replicate within and destroy cancer cells, while also stimulating systemic antitumor immune responses.

Replimune’s lead candidate, RP1, incorporates GM-CSF and a fusogenic protein to enhance both direct oncolysis and immune activation.