Traders Purchase Large Volume of Replimune Group Put Options (NASDAQ:REPL)

Replimune Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:REPL) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors bought 23,181 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 175% compared to the average volume of 8,439 put options.

Replimune Group Price Performance

Shares of REPL traded down $1.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $9.94. 2,828,130 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,570,143. Replimune Group has a one year low of $1.50 and a one year high of $13.24. The company has a current ratio of 4.79, a quick ratio of 4.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $8.02 and a 200 day moving average of $7.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $834.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.94 and a beta of 0.86.

Replimune Group (NASDAQ:REPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, June 29th. The company reported ($0.76) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.66) by ($0.10). As a group, equities analysts expect that Replimune Group will post -2.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher Sarchi sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.24, for a total value of $110,880.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 180,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,672,088.88. The trade was a 6.22% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Replimune Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Replimune Group during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Replimune Group by 3,638.9% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 7,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 7,569 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Replimune Group by 248.6% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 2,886 shares during the last quarter. Essential Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Replimune Group by 562,400.0% in the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 5,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 5,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Replimune Group by 99.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 13,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 6,873 shares during the period. 92.53% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on REPL shares. Wall Street Zen raised Replimune Group from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Replimune Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $17.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Replimune Group from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $4.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, April 10th. Leerink Partners restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $2.00 price target (down from $11.00) on shares of Replimune Group in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Replimune Group from $6.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.12.

Replimune Group Company Profile

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.