Short Interest in PepGen Inc. (NASDAQ:PEPG) Grows By 229.6%

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 trading volume, of 2,690,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.0 days. Currently, 10.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

PepGen Price Performance

PEPG stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $2.39. The company had a trading volume of 229,186 shares, compared to its average volume of 786,015. PepGen has a 1-year low of $1.16 and a 1-year high of $19.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $2.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.26. The company has a market capitalization of $78.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.80 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PepGen

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RTW Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of PepGen during the fourth quarter worth about $12,102,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in PepGen by 331.2% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,336,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,012,000 after buying an additional 1,794,641 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in PepGen by 1,033.2% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 156,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $594,000 after buying an additional 142,814 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC boosted its position in PepGen by 9.2% during the third quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 1,660,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,201,000 after acquiring an additional 140,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in PepGen during the 4th quarter worth about $516,000. 58.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.