Morgan Stanley Cuts Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) Price Target to $5.89

Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $6.40 to $5.89 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Absci from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Absci from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $7.98.

Absci Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ABSI opened at $2.57 on Monday. Absci has a 1 year low of $2.01 and a 1 year high of $6.33. The company has a market cap of $384.27 million, a PE ratio of -2.73 and a beta of 2.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $2.86 and its 200 day moving average is $3.13.

Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $0.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 million. Absci had a negative net margin of 2,737.94% and a negative return on equity of 60.21%. Analysts expect that Absci will post -0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andreas Busch acquired 50,000 shares of Absci stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $3.04 per share, for a total transaction of $152,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 327,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $994,882.56. This trade represents a 18.03% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Absci

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ARK Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Absci by 32.5% in the 1st quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 10,955,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,497,000 after buying an additional 2,689,153 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of Absci during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,792,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Absci in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,575,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Absci in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,251,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Absci by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,445,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,286,000 after acquiring an additional 448,984 shares during the last quarter. 52.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Absci

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.