PepGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEPG) Short Interest Up 361.6% in September

PepGen, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEPG) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 5,170,000 shares, a growth of 361.6% from the September 15th total of 1,120,000 shares. Currently, 8.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,170,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Based on an average trading volume of 3,170,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 8.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

PepGen Stock Up 1.9%

NASDAQ:PEPG opened at $4.89 on Friday. PepGen has a 52 week low of $0.88 and a 52 week high of $9.15. The company has a market capitalization of $160.39 million, a P/E ratio of -1.65 and a beta of 1.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $2.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.81.

PepGen (NASDAQ:PEPG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.70) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.15. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PepGen will post -2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Science Enterprises Plc Oxford purchased 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $3.20 per share, with a total value of $640,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 4,955,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,857,241.60. The trade was a 4.21% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PepGen

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of PepGen in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PepGen in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Rangeley Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of PepGen by 133.3% in the 2nd quarter. Rangeley Capital LLC now owns 35,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of PepGen in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of PepGen in the 2nd quarter valued at $81,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PEPG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price target on shares of PepGen in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on PepGen from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on PepGen from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of PepGen in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on PepGen from $8.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.40.

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.