ARK Investment Management LLC Acquires 2,689,153 Shares of Absci Corporation (NASDAQ:ABSI)

Key Points

• ARK Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Absci Corporation by 32.5%, now owning approximately 8.59% of the company, which is valued at nearly $27.5 million.
• Despite institutional interest, Absci's stock price has dropped 17.7% recently and is trading at $2.89, significantly below its 52-week high of $6.33.
• The company reported better-than-expected earnings for the last quarter, with revenue of $1.18 million, surpassing analysts' estimates of $1.07 million, although it continues to post negative earnings per share.

ARK Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Absci Corporation (NASDAQ:ABSI - Free Report) by 32.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,955,089 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,689,153 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC owned approximately 8.59% of Absci worth $27,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Absci by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 45,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 1,976 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Absci by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,153 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 3,729 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Absci by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,333 shares of the company's stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 3,747 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Absci by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 352,805 shares of the company's stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 3,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Absci by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 43,535 shares of the company's stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 5,719 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Absci news, insider Andreas Busch purchased 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $3.04 per share, with a total value of $152,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 327,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $994,882.56. This trade represents a 18.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on ABSI shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Absci from $5.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Absci from $7.00 to $6.40 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $9.00 target price on shares of Absci in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Absci from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, June 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $8.28.

Absci Price Performance

NASDAQ:ABSI traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $3.04. The company had a trading volume of 5,641,220 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,706,327. The company has a market capitalization of $387.14 million, a PE ratio of -3.30 and a beta of 2.01. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $2.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.19. Absci Corporation has a 52 week low of $2.01 and a 52 week high of $6.33.

Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.07 million. Absci had a negative return on equity of 53.69% and a negative net margin of 2,232.13%. Analysts anticipate that Absci Corporation will post -0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Absci

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.