Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO) Downgraded to Strong Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Abeona Therapeutics from “sell” to “strong sell,” even though the broader analyst consensus on the stock remains “Moderate Buy” with a $19.00 price target.
• The company recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting an EPS loss of $0.30 versus estimates for a $0.33 loss and revenue of $8.72 million versus $4.57 million expected.
• Insiders sold shares in July, including the CEO and an executive, while institutional investors still own a large majority of the stock at 80.56%.

Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ABEO. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Abeona Therapeutics from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abeona Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.00.

Abeona Therapeutics Price Performance

ABEO stock opened at $7.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $398.93 million, a P/E ratio of 7.22 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 5.70 and a current ratio of 5.89. Abeona Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $4.00 and a 52-week high of $7.54. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.38.

Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.57 million. Research analysts expect that Abeona Therapeutics will post -0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Abeona Therapeutics

In other Abeona Therapeutics news, insider Madhav Vasanthavada sold 12,606 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total transaction of $87,737.76. Following the sale, the insider owned 290,623 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,022,736.08. The trade was a 4.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Vishwas Seshadri sold 67,971 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.96, for a total value of $473,078.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,306,108 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,090,511.68. The trade was a 4.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 311,291 shares of company stock worth $1,877,908 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Abeona Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 49.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Abeona Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its stake in Abeona Therapeutics by 191.4% during the fourth quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 10,307 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 6,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Abeona Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company's stock.

Abeona Therapeutics Company Profile

Abeona Therapeutics is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of gene and cell therapies for severe, life‐threatening rare diseases and oncology indications. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Abeona leverages proprietary viral and non‐viral delivery platforms to correct or compensate for underlying genetic deficiencies. The company's research efforts target pediatric neurodegenerative disorders as well as debilitating dermatologic conditions with high unmet medical need.

The company's lead clinical programs include separate AAV‐based gene therapies for CLN1 and CLN3 forms of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, alongside an ex vivo autologous cell therapy for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa.

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