First Light Asset Management LLC Raises Stake in Septerna, Inc. $SEPN

First Light Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Septerna, Inc. (NASDAQ:SEPN) by 31.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 963,260 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 230,400 shares during the period. Septerna accounts for approximately 2.0% of First Light Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. First Light Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Septerna were worth $32,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its position in shares of Septerna by 5.0% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 17,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $581,000 after purchasing an additional 822 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Septerna by 17.3% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 21,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $711,000 after buying an additional 3,136 shares during the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Septerna in the second quarter worth $445,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Septerna by 31,352.2% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 363,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,187,000 after acquiring an additional 362,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Septerna during the second quarter valued at $1,201,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SEPN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of Septerna in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Septerna from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Septerna from $38.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Septerna from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Septerna from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.44.

Insider Activity at Septerna

In related news, insider Samira Shaikhly sold 2,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.18, for a total transaction of $76,622.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,897.74. This represents a 73.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Daniel Long sold 3,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.83, for a total value of $126,087.39. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 96,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,647,265.96. This represents a 3.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,428 shares of company stock worth $2,284,054. Company insiders own 5.80% of the company’s stock.

Septerna Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:SEPN opened at $37.97 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -70.31 and a beta of 2.30. Septerna, Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.67 and a 12 month high of $51.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $37.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.40.

Septerna (NASDAQ:SEPN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $26.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.22 million. Septerna had a negative return on equity of 9.57% and a negative net margin of 24.51%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Septerna, Inc. will post -1.41 EPS for the current year.

Septerna 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.