Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASMB) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASMB) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 23,100 shares, an increase of 42.6% from the August 31st total of 16,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 21,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assembly Biosciences

In other Assembly Biosciences news, major shareholder Alexander Schornstein bought 4,438 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.52 per share, for a total transaction of $55,563.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 693,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,677,774.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assembly Biosciences

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASMB. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new stake in Assembly Biosciences in the second quarter worth approximately $6,421,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Assembly Biosciences by 39.2% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 54,911 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $753,000 after purchasing an additional 15,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Assembly Biosciences by 131.0% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,558 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 7,690 shares in the last quarter. 19.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Assembly Biosciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $2.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday.

Assembly Biosciences Price Performance

Shares of Assembly Biosciences stock traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $15.82. The company had a trading volume of 3,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,097. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.53. Assembly Biosciences has a fifty-two week low of $7.69 and a fifty-two week high of $20.04.

Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.98) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.96) by $0.98. The company had revenue of $8.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.96 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Assembly Biosciences will post -7.82 EPS for the current year.

Assembly Biosciences Company Profile

Assembly Biosciences, Inc, a biotechnology company, develops therapeutic candidates for the treatment of viral diseases. It develops ABI-5366, a long-acting herpes simplex virus (HSV) helicase-primase inhibitor that is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial to treat recurrent genital herpes; ABI-1179, which is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial for the treatment of recurrent genital herpes; and ABI-6250, a small molecule orally bioavailable hepatitis delta virus entry inhibitor that is in Phase 1a clinical trial.