PepGen Inc. (NASDAQ:PEPG) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

PepGen Inc. (NASDAQ:PEPG) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 576,800 shares, a growth of 51.6% from the June 30th total of 380,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 95,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.1 days. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PEPG shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of PepGen in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of PepGen in a report on Wednesday, May 15th.

PepGen Stock Down 5.6 %

NASDAQ:PEPG traded down $1.04 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $17.51. 134,152 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 108,108. The company has a market capitalization of $567.67 million, a P/E ratio of -5.39 and a beta of 1.73. PepGen has a 12 month low of $3.72 and a 12 month high of $19.30. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.03.

PepGen (NASDAQ:PEPG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.63) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.74) by $0.11. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PepGen will post -2.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PepGen news, SVP Niels Svenstrup sold 10,000 shares of PepGen stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.41, for a total value of $134,100.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other PepGen news, SVP Niels Svenstrup sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.41, for a total value of $134,100.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Michelle L. Mellion sold 12,625 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.20, for a total transaction of $229,775.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 49,182 shares of company stock valued at $844,269. Company insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepGen

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepGen in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in PepGen by 43.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 44,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $705,000 after buying an additional 13,397 shares in the last quarter. Artal Group S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of PepGen during the 1st quarter valued at $2,940,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of PepGen by 68.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 850,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,502,000 after acquiring an additional 344,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in PepGen by 18.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,166,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,225,000 after purchasing an additional 178,438 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.01% of the company’s stock.

PepGen Company Profile

PepGen Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on the development of oligonucleotide therapeutics for use in the treatment of severe neuromuscular and neurologic diseases. Its lead product candidate is PGN-EDO51, an EDO peptide that is in Phase 2 clinical trial to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients.