Aberdeen Group plc Makes New $3.25 Million Investment in Abeona Therapeutics Inc. $ABEO

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc opened a new position in Abeona Therapeutics by acquiring 616,413 shares in Q4, valued at approximately $3.25 million, representing about 1.14% ownership.
• Analysts have an average rating of “Moderate Buy” with a consensus price target of $19.00, well above the recent share price (~$4.87), based on four Buy ratings and one Sell.
• Insiders have sold 184,605 shares in the past 90 days (roughly $968,550); insiders hold 6.9% of the stock while institutional investors and hedge funds own about 80.6%, signaling heavy institutional ownership despite recent insider selling.

Aberdeen Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Abeona Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ABEO - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 616,413 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $3,248,000. Aberdeen Group plc owned 1.14% of Abeona Therapeutics as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Abeona Therapeutics by 19.6% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 25,176 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 4,127 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 43.0% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,310 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 4,305 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Abeona Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Riverwater Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 15,857 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 4,963 shares during the period. Finally, Simplify Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 565,009 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,983,000 after acquiring an additional 6,425 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $17.00 price target on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abeona Therapeutics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $19.00.

Abeona Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of ABEO opened at $4.87 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $277.83 million, a PE ratio of 4.73 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $4.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 6.74 and a current ratio of 6.93. Abeona Therapeutics Inc. has a twelve month low of $3.93 and a twelve month high of $7.54.

Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 17th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.34) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.35) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.65 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Abeona Therapeutics Inc. will post -1.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Leila Alland sold 18,065 shares of Abeona Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.09, for a total value of $91,950.85. Following the transaction, the director owned 173,614 shares of the company's stock, valued at $883,695.26. This trade represents a 9.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Vishwas Seshadri sold 69,832 shares of Abeona Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.33, for a total transaction of $372,204.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,460,408 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,783,974.64. This represents a 4.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 184,605 shares of company stock valued at $968,550. 6.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Abeona Therapeutics

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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