Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Shares of Septerna, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEPN) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $32.92 and last traded at $32.72, with a volume of 56398 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $30.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SEPN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Septerna from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Septerna in a research note on Friday, May 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Septerna from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Septerna in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Septerna in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.78.

Septerna Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.30 and a beta of 2.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.67.

Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.23. Septerna had a negative return on equity of 12.72% and a negative net margin of 49.88%.The business had revenue of $26.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.98 million. Research analysts anticipate that Septerna, Inc. will post -1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Samira Shaikhly sold 5,935 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.93, for a total transaction of $171,699.55. Following the sale, the insider owned 793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,941.49. This trade represents a 88.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Elizabeth Bhatt sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.34, for a total value of $97,360.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 174,209 shares in the company, valued at $4,240,247.06. This trade represents a 2.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 21,733 shares of company stock worth $623,707 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SEPN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Septerna by 86.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,715,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,698,000 after buying an additional 1,260,409 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new position in Septerna during the 1st quarter worth approximately $21,334,000. First Light Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Septerna during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,308,000. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new position in Septerna during the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,225,000. Finally, Perceptive Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Septerna during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,723,000.

About Septerna

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.