Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) Stock: Insider Nicole White Sells 2,593 Shares

Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASMB) insider Nicole White sold 2,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total value of $50,874.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 59,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,162,622.34. The trade was a 4.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Assembly Biosciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ASMB opened at $19.87 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.07. The company has a market cap of $404.55 million, a P/E ratio of 19.53 and a beta of 1.26. Assembly Biosciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.25 and a 52-week high of $39.71.

Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $13.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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, equities analysts predict that Assembly Biosciences, Inc. will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Assembly Biosciences

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 113.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 10,902 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 5,792 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Assembly Biosciences by 69.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 15,651 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 6,411 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its stake 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 during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Assembly Biosciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $660,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings 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. 19.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Assembly Biosciences News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage remains broadly favorable: the reported consensus price target is $47.50, well above the recent share price, although targets are estimates and not a guarantee of future performance. Consensus price target report
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS cut its price target to $48 from $52, but maintained its Buy rating. The lower target signals a more cautious valuation, while the continued Buy rating remains supportive. UBS price target update
• Neutral Sentiment: The CEO and three other insiders sold shares, including CEO Jason Okazaki, but the sales were reported as covering tax withholding obligations tied to vested equity awards. That makes them less indicative of a negative outlook than discretionary selling. SEC insider transaction filing

Assembly Biosciences Company Profile

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.