Short Interest in Absci Co. (NASDAQ:ABSI) Decreases By 5.6%

Absci Co. (NASDAQ:ABSI) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,290,000 shares, a drop of 5.6% from the May 15th total of 7,720,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.5 days. Currently, 8.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on ABSI shares. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.00 price target on shares of Absci in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $13.00 price objective on shares of Absci in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of Absci in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Absci from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th.

Absci Stock Performance

Absci stock opened at $3.41 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $4.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $385.60 million, a PE ratio of -2.94 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 7.19 and a current ratio of 7.19. Absci has a one year low of $1.11 and a one year high of $6.72.

Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $0.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 million. Absci had a negative return on equity of 44.60% and a negative net margin of 2,042.01%. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Absci will post -0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Phoenix Venture Partners Ii Lp sold 3,100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.40, for a total value of $13,640,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,279,522 shares in the company, valued at $49,629,896.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, major shareholder Phoenix Venture Partners Ii Lp sold 3,100,000 shares of Absci stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.40, for a total transaction of $13,640,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,279,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,629,896.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Zachariah Jonasson sold 19,859 shares of Absci stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.98, for a total value of $98,897.82. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 384,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,916,059.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 9.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Absci

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Comerica Bank purchased a new stake in Absci during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. D Orazio & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Absci by 27.3% during the 1st quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 28,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV purchased a new stake in Absci during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Absci in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Absci in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 52.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Absci Company Profile

Absci Corporation operates as a data-first generative artificial intelligence (AI) drug creation company in the United States. The company combines AI with scalable wet lab technologies to create biologics for patients. Its integrated drug creation platform is designed to improve upon traditional biologic drug discovery by using AI to simultaneously optimize multiple drug characteristics that may be important to development and therapeutic benefit.