Fred Alger Management LLC Sells 2,211,391 Shares of Absci Corporation $ABSI

Key Points

• Fred Alger Management LLC reduced its stake in Absci Corporation by 34%, selling 2,211,391 shares in the first quarter, leaving them with approximately 3.37% ownership valued at $10.78 million.
• A number of institutional investors have increased their holdings in Absci, with AQR Capital Management raising its stake by 279.4% during the same quarter.
• Analysts' ratings for Absci have varied, with Wall Street Zen downgrading the stock to a "strong sell" and Morgan Stanley lowering the price target from $6.40 to $5.89.

Fred Alger Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Absci Corporation (NASDAQ:ABSI - Free Report) by 34.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,294,032 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,211,391 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC owned about 3.37% of Absci worth $10,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABSI. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Absci during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Absci during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in shares of Absci during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of Absci during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Absci during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.05% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andreas Busch bought 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $3.04 per share, with a total value of $152,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 327,264 shares of the company's stock, valued at $994,882.56. This represents a 18.03% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 10.49% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ABSI shares. Wall Street Zen cut Absci from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Absci from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Absci from $6.40 to $5.89 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $7.98.

Absci Price Performance

Shares of ABSI stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $2.55. The company had a trading volume of 7,030,901 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,686,295. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $2.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.86. The company has a market capitalization of $381.28 million, a PE ratio of -2.71 and a beta of 2.01. Absci Corporation has a one year low of $2.01 and a one year high of $6.33.

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

Absci 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.