Oppenheimer Raises Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO) Price Target to $20.00

Key Points

• The price target for Abeona Therapeutics has been raised from $19.00 to $20.00 by Oppenheimer, indicating a potential upside of 177.93% from the current price.
• Abeona Therapeutics reported earnings of $1.71 EPS, beating consensus estimates, but revenue was significantly below expectations at $0.40 million.
• Insider selling has occurred with CFO Joseph Walter Vazzano and Director Faith L. Charles each offloading shares, reducing their ownership stakes in the company.

Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Oppenheimer's target price suggests a potential upside of 190.19% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on ABEO. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Abeona Therapeutics from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Alliance Global Partners reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Abeona Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.50.

Abeona Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ ABEO traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $6.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 53,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,022,221. Abeona Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $3.93 and a 12 month high of $7.54. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $6.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.76. The company has a market cap of $352.57 million, a P/E ratio of 9.86 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 4.90 and a quick ratio of 4.90.

Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $2.10. The firm had revenue of $0.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.71 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abeona Therapeutics will post -1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Brendan M. O'malley sold 17,428 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.86, for a total transaction of $102,128.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 360,817 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,114,387.62. This trade represents a 4.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Joseph Walter Vazzano sold 25,411 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.86, for a total value of $148,908.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 479,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,807,924.48. This trade represents a 5.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 231,626 shares of company stock worth $1,430,587 over the last ninety days. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abeona Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Abeona Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Abeona Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Abeona Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. Riverwater Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abeona Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey acquired a new stake in Abeona Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $63,000. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abeona Therapeutics Company Profile

Abeona Therapeutics Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and delivering gene therapy products for severe and life-threatening rare diseases. The company's lead programs are EB-101 (gene-corrected skin grafts) for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB); ABO-102, which are AAV based gene therapies for Sanfilippo syndrome type A; and ABO-101, an adeno-associated virus (AAV) based gene therapies for Sanfilippo syndrome type B.