Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) was upgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday, Briefing.com reports. The firm presently has a $35.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $2.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 89.19% from the company’s current price.

Separately, HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a report on Thursday, June 20th.

Assembly Biosciences Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of ASMB stock opened at $18.50 on Friday. Assembly Biosciences has a 52 week low of $7.69 and a 52 week high of $20.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.42.

Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.98) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.96) by $0.98. The firm had revenue of $8.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.96 million. Research analysts expect that Assembly Biosciences will post -7.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Assembly Biosciences

In related news, major shareholder Alexander Schornstein purchased 4,438 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.52 per share, with a total value of $55,563.76. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 693,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,677,774.76. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 5.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Assembly Biosciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 131.0% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,558 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 7,690 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Assembly Biosciences by 39.2% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 54,911 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $753,000 after buying an additional 15,451 shares during the period. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new position in Assembly Biosciences during the second quarter worth about $6,421,000. Institutional investors own 19.92% of the company’s stock.

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.