Abivax (NASDAQ:ABVX) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Abivax SA Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:ABVX) shares saw strong trading volume on Wednesday after Jefferies Financial Group upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. Jefferies Financial Group now has a $158.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $108.00. 1,194,238 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the previous session’s volume of 1,553,965 shares.The stock last traded at $136.7350 and had previously closed at $133.26.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on ABVX. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Abivax from $142.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Citizens Jmp increased their target price on Abivax from $131.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Abivax in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Abivax in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BTIG Research raised their target price on Abivax from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.46.

Key Stories Impacting Abivax

Here are the key news stories impacting Abivax this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Updated Phase 2/3 data for obefazimod showed meaningful clinical benefit in hard-to-treat ulcerative colitis patients and reinforced the maintenance safety database, easing earlier concerns about cancer signals. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: Reuters and other outlets highlighted that the drug showed benefit in relapsed and non-responding patients, supporting the view that the therapy could address a difficult-to-treat market. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts turned more constructive, including Jefferies upgrading ABVX to buy and Leerink raising its price target, which can reinforce bullish sentiment after the data readout. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Abivax temporarily halted and then resumed trading in Paris while it finalized a large ADS offering, signaling a financing move rather than a change in the underlying drug data. Article title
• Negative Sentiment: The company launched and then upsized a large public offering of American Depositary Shares, which could dilute existing shareholders even as it strengthens the balance sheet. Article title

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abivax

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABVX. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Abivax by 2,561.0% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,461,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,761,000 after acquiring an additional 4,293,606 shares during the period. Darwin Global Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Abivax during the third quarter worth about $263,698,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Abivax by 114.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,151,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,062,000 after purchasing an additional 1,681,277 shares in the last quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Abivax in the third quarter valued at about $132,800,000. Finally, TCG Crossover Management LLC boosted its holdings in Abivax by 17.4% in the 3rd quarter. TCG Crossover Management LLC now owns 7,111,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $603,774,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055,000 shares in the last quarter. 47.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abivax Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.34 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.42.

Abivax (NASDAQ:ABVX) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 22nd. The company reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.94) by $0.23. The business had revenue of $1.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.40 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abivax SA Sponsored ADR will post -3.4 EPS for the current year.

About Abivax

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Paris, France, Abivax is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel therapies for chronic inflammatory diseases and viral infections. The company’s technology platform targets host RNA biogenesis to modulate key immune pathways, offering a differentiated approach aimed at disease modification and improved safety profiles.

Abivax’s lead clinical asset, obefazimod (ABX464), is being evaluated in ulcerative colitis and other inflammatory disorders.