Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Septerna, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEPN) saw strong trading volume on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $48.00 to $50.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. 244,601 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 30% from the previous session’s volume of 350,980 shares.The stock last traded at $50.4840 and had previously closed at $47.76.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on SEPN. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Septerna from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Septerna from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Septerna from $35.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Septerna in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $49.00 target price on shares of Septerna in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.22.

Insider Activity

In other Septerna news, insider Samira Shaikhly sold 11,798 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.06, for a total transaction of $354,647.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 793 shares in the company, valued at $23,837.58. The trade was a 93.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Daniel D. Long sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.51, for a total transaction of $532,650.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 96,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,423,590.12. The trade was a 13.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 47,828 shares of company stock worth $1,584,314 over the last three months. Insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Septerna by 94.2% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 582,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,373,000 after purchasing an additional 282,585 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in Septerna by 16.6% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 23,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $135,000 after purchasing an additional 3,323 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Septerna by 19.1% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 487,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,158,000 after purchasing an additional 78,316 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Septerna by 15.0% during the second 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 period. Finally, CW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Septerna during the second quarter valued at about $133,000.

Septerna Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.25. The firm has a market cap of $2.23 billion, a PE ratio of -92.01 and a beta of 2.29.

Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $26.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.22 million. Septerna had a negative return on equity of 9.59% and a negative net margin of 24.51%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Septerna, Inc. will post -1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.