Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) Stock: Insider Jeanette Bjorkquist Sells 727 Shares

Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASMB) insider Jeanette Bjorkquist sold 727 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total value of $14,263.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 17,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $346,744.26. This trade represents a 3.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Assembly Biosciences Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ ASMB opened at $19.87 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $25.23 and its 200 day moving average is $27.07. Assembly Biosciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.25 and a 12 month high of $39.71. The stock has a market cap of $404.55 million, a PE ratio of 19.53 and a beta of 1.26.

Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $13.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.60 million. Assembly Biosciences had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a negative return on equity of 0.02%. On average, analysts forecast that Assembly Biosciences, Inc. will post 2.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Assembly Biosciences

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 671.5% in the 2nd quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 433,147 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,903,000 after acquiring an additional 377,000 shares during the period. Stempoint Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 18.3% in the first quarter. Stempoint Capital LP now owns 185,435 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,146,000 after buying an additional 28,707 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Assembly Biosciences during the second quarter worth $660,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 1.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 849,309 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,479,000 after buying an additional 11,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 43.7% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 34,214 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $940,000 after acquiring an additional 10,410 shares during the period. 19.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Assembly Biosciences News

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ASMB shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Assembly Biosciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Assembly Biosciences from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Mizuho set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Assembly Biosciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.50.

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.