Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) Insider Sells 2,593 Shares of Company Stock

Key Points

• Anuj Gaggar sold 2,593 shares at an average $19.62, reducing his direct stake by 4.6% to 53,800 shares. The sale was to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards.
• Analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $46.50; UBS lowered its target from $52 to $48 while maintaining a Buy rating.
• Assembly Biosciences shares rose 2.1% to $19.92 in Tuesday trading. In its latest reported quarter, the company beat estimates, posting an adjusted loss of $0.20 per share and revenue of $13.37 million.

Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASMB - Get Free Report) insider Anuj Gaggar sold 2,593 shares of Assembly Biosciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total transaction of $50,874.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 53,800 shares in the company, valued at $1,055,556. This trade represents a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Assembly Biosciences Trading Up 2.1%

NASDAQ ASMB traded up $0.41 on Tuesday, hitting $19.92. 170,887 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 191,131. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $25.84 and a 200-day moving average of $27.18. Assembly Biosciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.25 and a 52 week high of $39.71. The stock has a market cap of $405.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.53 and a beta of 1.26.

Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by $0.52. The company had revenue of $13.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.60 million. Assembly Biosciences had a negative return on equity of 0.02% and a negative net margin of 0.06%. As a group, analysts predict that Assembly Biosciences, Inc. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ASMB has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho set a $53.00 price target on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Assembly Biosciences from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Assembly Biosciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.50.

Key Assembly Biosciences News

Here are the key news stories impacting Assembly Biosciences this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS cut its price target to $48 from $52 but maintained its Buy rating. The revised target remains well above the share price cited in the report, suggesting the firm sees substantial potential upside. UBS price target and rating
• Neutral Sentiment: The reported sales by CEO Jason Okazaki and three other insiders were described as covering tax withholding obligations tied to equity vesting, which makes them less clearly bearish than discretionary sales. CEO SEC filing Anuj Gaggar SEC filing Nicole White SEC filing Jeanette Bjorkquist SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Assembly Biosciences said management will participate in investor conferences in November; the announcement did not include new business or clinical updates. Investor conference announcement

Institutional Trading of Assembly Biosciences

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Assembly Biosciences by 4.3% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 39,446 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,095,000 after buying an additional 1,634 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 113.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 10,902 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 5,792 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 69.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 15,651 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $434,000 after acquiring an additional 6,411 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its position in Assembly Biosciences by 88.5% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 17,766 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 8,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Assembly Biosciences by 43.7% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 34,214 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $940,000 after purchasing an additional 10,410 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.92% of the company's stock.

About Assembly Biosciences

Assembly Biosciences, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing oral therapeutics for serious viral infections. The company's research programs target chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and herpesvirus infections, including herpes simplex virus (HSV), with the goal of addressing diseases for which existing treatments may not provide adequate cures or long-term control.

Assembly's pipeline includes novel antiviral candidates designed to interfere with essential stages of viral replication.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.