Analyst Update: athenahealth, Inc, Adeptus Health Inc, and Sarepta Therapeutics Inc

Analysts are weighing in on healthcare stocks athenahealth, Inc (NASDAQ:ATHN) and Adeptus Health Inc (NYSE:ADPT), as well as drugmaker Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:SRPT). Here's a quick roundup of today's brokerage notes on ATHN, ADPT, and SRPT.

• ATHN is getting crushed, after the company reported a suprise second-quarter loss. The brokerage crowd is only adding to the pain, with Deutsche Bank downgrading its opinion to "hold" from "buy," and joining two other analysts in slashing its price target. "Most concerning to us is that many of Athena's key underlying operating metrics are trending in the wrong direction," Deutsche Bank said with respect to athenahealth, Inc. At last check, the shares have plunged 11.7% at $121.14, and landed on the short-sale restricted list. In fact, ATHN isn't that far from its annual low of $114.59, touched in early February. Meanwhile, traders have been betting bearishly in the last two weeks at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). The stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 2.93 ranks near the top quartile of its annual range.

• ADPT has sunk 5.3% at $46.64, on the heels of an earnings miss and negative round of analyst notes. Specifically, Jefferies, KeyBanc, and Goldman Sachs each lowered their price targets on the stock, which has now surrendered 14.5% year-to-date. Suffice it to say, Adeptus Health Inc call buyers could be feeling the heat. During the past 50 sessions at the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX, traders have bought to open 2.33 calls for each put -- a ratio that ranks in the bullishly skewed 89th percentile of its 52-week range.

• SRPT is burning short sellers today, up 6.4% at $24.09 on a price-target hike to $26 from $20 at Needham. After all, nearly half of the stock's float is sold short, representing 6.2 times its average daily trading volume. On the charts, Sarepta Therapeutics Inc has been muscling its way higher since gapping sharply south in mid-January. That said, the shares have repeatedly been turned back in the $24-$25 area over the past several months, and now face another potential level of resistance at their overhead 320-day moving average.