Analyst Downgrades: Sarepta Therapeutics Inc, Fitbit Inc, and Express Scripts Holding Company

Analysts downwardly revised their ratings and price targets on Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT), Fitbit Inc (NYSE:FIT), and Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ:ESRX)

Karee Venema

Jan 19, 2016 at 10:25 AM

Analysts are weighing in on biopharmaceutical firm Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT), wearable device maker Fitbit Inc (NYSE:FIT), and prescription benefits specialist Express Scripts Holding Company (NASDAQ:ESRX). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on SRPT, FIT, and ESRX.

SRPT is 1.5% higher at $14.50, despite receiving a downgrade to "sector perform" from "outperform" and a price-target cut to $15 from $62 at RBC. SunTrust Robinson also weighed in on the stock, slashing its price target by $14 to $20. On the charts, the security has struggled against the $41 mark for much of the last year (and topped out at an annual peak of $41.97 in early October). In fact, since last hitting this mark on Dec. 30, shares of Sarepta Therapeutics Inc have shed 65% -- due in large part to last Friday's FDA-induced bear gap. Short sellers, meanwhile, have more than likely been cheering the slide, considering 26.1% of the stock's float is sold short.

It's been a slow start to the year for FIT, with the shares off 38%. This may be what prompted SunTrust Robinson to cut its price target on Fitbit Inc to $30 from $48. However, due to a broad-market bounce, the shares have shown little concern for this negative analyst attention, last seen up 3.3% at $18.55. On the sentiment front, option traders have been keeping the faith. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), for example, speculators have bought to open 1.69 calls for each put over the past month.

Leerink downgraded its outlook for ESRX to "market perform" from "outperform" overnight, while also lowering its price target to $80 from $95. Against this backdrop, the shares are 0.8% lower at $74.03 -- widening their year-to-date deficit to 15.4%. While the stock has been struggling, option traders have been upping the bearish ante. Specifically, Express Scripts Holding Company's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 5.06 sits just 6 percentage points from a 52-week peak. In other words, speculators have bought to open puts over calls at a near-annual-high clip.

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