Abivax (NASDAQ:ABVX) Shares Climb 4.4% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Abivax shares rose 4.4% to $95.03 in mid-day trading, though trading volume was 84% below the average daily level.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $156.69, implying substantial potential upside; however, Wedbush recently cut its target to $118 and assigned a neutral rating.
• Abivax missed quarterly EPS expectations, reporting a loss of $1.71 per share versus the expected $0.92 loss, while institutional investors own approximately 47.91% of the company.

Abivax SA Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:ABVX - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 4.4% during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $94.67 and last traded at $95.03. 235,529 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 1,433,359 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.06.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on ABVX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Abivax in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on Abivax from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wolfe Research set a $136.00 target price on shares of Abivax in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Abivax from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Abivax from $140.00 to $118.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abivax presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $156.69.

Abivax Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.01 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.18.

Abivax (NASDAQ:ABVX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, September 21st. The company reported ($1.71) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.92) by ($0.79). The firm had revenue of $1.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.80 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Abivax SA Sponsored ADR will post -4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Abivax

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABVX. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of Abivax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $136,199,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in Abivax by 152.4% in the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 849,732 shares of the company's stock worth $114,591,000 after purchasing an additional 513,026 shares during the period. Eversept Partners LP grew its position in Abivax by 42.0% in the 1st quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 934,423 shares of the company's stock worth $104,048,000 after purchasing an additional 276,589 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Abivax by 40.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 735,729 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,923,000 after buying an additional 213,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Abivax by 31.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 878,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,007,000 after buying an additional 211,068 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.91% of the company's stock.

About Abivax

Abivax is a clinical-stage biotechnology company headquartered in Paris, France, focused on developing oral therapies for chronic inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases. Its lead investigational product is obefazimod, an oral small-molecule therapy designed to enhance the production of microRNA-124, a regulator of inflammatory pathways.

Obefazimod is being developed primarily for ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory disease of the colon, and has also been evaluated in Crohn's disease.

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