HC Wainwright Initiates Coverage on Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB)

Key Points

• HC Wainwright has reaffirmed a "Buy" rating for Assembly Biosciences, with a price target of $50.00, indicating a potential upside of 96.54% from its current stock price.
• During their last earnings report, Assembly Biosciences beat expectations with reported earnings of ($1.33) EPS against a consensus estimate of ($1.73), alongside revenue of $9.63 million.
• Several institutional investors have significantly increased their stakes in Assembly Biosciences, with 19.92% of the stock now owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equities research analysts at HC Wainwright started coverage on shares of Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB - Get Free Report) in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. HC Wainwright's target price would suggest a potential upside of 98.77% from the stock's current price.

Assembly Biosciences Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of Assembly Biosciences stock traded down $0.6050 during trading on Monday, hitting $25.1550. The stock had a trading volume of 80,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,972. The firm has a market cap of $192.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.51 and a beta of 0.64. Assembly Biosciences has a 12 month low of $7.75 and a 12 month high of $26.24. The business's 50-day moving average is $19.06 and its 200 day moving average is $14.43.

Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.33) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.73) by $0.40. The business had revenue of $9.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.30 million. Assembly Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 149.01% and a negative net margin of 117.20%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Assembly Biosciences will post -6.87 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Assembly Biosciences

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Assembly Biosciences by 225.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,427 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $180,000 after buying an additional 7,918 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 44.3% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 94,711 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,495,000 after acquiring an additional 29,087 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 14,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 2,098 shares in the last quarter. B Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Assembly Biosciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $799,000. Finally, Man Group plc bought a new stake in Assembly Biosciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $309,000. 19.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Assembly Biosciences

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.