Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) Stock Price Down 5.7% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Absci Corporation (NASDAQ:ABSI) saw its stock price decline by 5.7% to $3.94, with a significant drop in trading volume, down 72% from its average session volume.
• Analysts' ratings are varied, with Wall Street Zen downgrading shares to "strong sell," while Needham & Company maintained a "buy" rating, lowering the price target from $9.00 to $8.00.
• Despite recent insider buying, Absci reported a miss in earnings with a loss of ($0.24) per share against an estimate of ($0.19), and revenue significantly underperforming at $0.59 million.

Absci Corporation (NASDAQ:ABSI - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 5.7% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $3.97 and last traded at $3.94. 1,345,511 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 4,783,483 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABSI has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Absci from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Absci from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Absci in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Absci in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Absci from $6.40 to $5.89 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Absci presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $7.98.

Absci Stock Down 4.1%

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $2.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.82.

Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $0.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.39 million. Absci had a negative return on equity of 60.21% and a negative net margin of 2,737.94%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Absci Corporation will post -0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Menelas N. Pangalos bought 95,785 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $2.66 per share, for a total transaction of $254,788.10. Following the purchase, the director owned 113,960 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $303,133.60. The trade was a 527.02% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andreas Busch acquired 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $3.04 per share, for a total transaction of $152,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 327,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at $994,882.56. The trade was a 18.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 155,785 shares of company stock valued at $433,788. Company insiders own 10.49% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Absci

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABSI. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Absci by 43.8% in the first quarter. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC now owns 303,670 shares of the company's stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 92,460 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Absci by 32.5% in the first quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 10,955,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,497,000 after buying an additional 2,689,153 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Absci during the first quarter worth $1,251,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Absci during the first quarter worth $5,792,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in Absci by 30.6% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,493,865 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,750,000 after acquiring an additional 350,036 shares during the last quarter. 52.05% of the stock is owned by 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.