PepGen Inc. (NASDAQ:PEPG) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

PepGen Inc. (NASDAQ:PEPG) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,810,000 shares, an increase of 229.6% from the February 13th total of 852,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.0 days. Currently, 10.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepGen

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Suvretta Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in PepGen by 9.2% in the third quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 1,660,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,201,000 after acquiring an additional 140,000 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of PepGen by 29.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 27,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 6,254 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of PepGen by 318.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 21,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 16,723 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of PepGen by 289.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 26,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after acquiring an additional 19,786 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of PepGen by 331.2% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,336,516 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794,641 shares during the last quarter. 58.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PepGen Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PEPG traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $2.24. 376,152 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 784,998. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.07 million, a P/E ratio of -0.75 and a beta of 0.96. PepGen has a one year low of $1.16 and a one year high of $19.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $2.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.28.

PepGen (NASDAQ:PEPG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The company reported ($0.68) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.81) by $0.13. Equities analysts forecast that PepGen will post -2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on PEPG shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of PepGen in a report on Monday, February 24th. Bank of America lowered PepGen from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $3.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, December 16th.

About PepGen

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.