Two Healthcare Companies and One Micro-Cap Company Register Strong Insider Buying

Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT) saw three members of its Board of Directors purchase shares this week, a cluster of insider buying that should catch investors’ attention. To start with, Chairwoman M. Kathleen Behrens reported purchasing 65,000 shares on Monday and 10,000 shares on Wednesday at prices varying from $14.51 to $17.10 per share, with the 10,000-share block being held through a trust fund that owns 21,855 shares. The Chairwoman currently owns a direct ownership stake of 112,166 shares. Director Richard J. Barry bought 75,000 shares on Monday at prices that fell between $14.99 and $15.99 per share, lifting his overall holding to 3.21 million shares. Last but not least, Director Ben Gil Price snapped up 4,500 units of common stock on the same day at a cost of $16.70 per unit, which increased his stake to 42,830 shares.

The shares of the biopharmaceutical company plummeted in mid-January after the U.S Food and Drug Administration released briefing materials regarding the company’s eteplirsen, an experimental drug for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), ahead of a scheduled advisory panel meeting at the end of January. However, the Advisory Committee meeting for the review of the eteplirsen NDA was postponed due to severe weather. The FDA also rejected a New Drug Application for BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (NASDAQ:BMRN)’s treatment of DMD in mid-January, which has further led investors believe that Sarepta’s eteplirsen will have trouble receiving approval as well. Nonetheless, the review period for eteplirsen was extended in early February to May 26, which might have spurred new optimism among investors that the drug may receive approval after all. Shares of Sarepta have been slowly recovering from the significant pullback they suffered in January 2015, gaining 12% over the past month. A total of 17 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were invested in the biopharmaceutical company at the end of 2015, accumulating 24.40% of its outstanding common stock. Steven Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management had 2.38 million shares of Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT) in its portfolio at the end of 2015.