Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.51 EPS

Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.51) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.02) by $0.51, reports. Assembly Biosciences had a negative net margin of 144.05% and a negative return on equity of 112.95%. The firm had revenue of $6.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.65 million.

Assembly Biosciences Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ASMB opened at $16.78 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $16.72 and its 200 day moving average is $15.22. Assembly Biosciences has a 52 week low of $7.69 and a 52 week high of $19.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ASMB. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Assembly Biosciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $2.00 to $35.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assembly Biosciences

In related news, major shareholder Alexander Schornstein acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.58 per share, for a total transaction of $145,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 703,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,251,387.54. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Armistice Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Assembly Biosciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,421,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 131.0% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,558 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 7,690 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 39.2% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 54,911 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $753,000 after purchasing an additional 15,451 shares during the period. 19.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Assembly Biosciences

Assembly Biosciences, Inc, a biotechnology company, develops therapeutic candidates for the treatment of viral diseases. It develops ABI-5366, a long-acting herpes simplex virus (HSV) helicase-primase inhibitor that is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial to treat recurrent genital herpes; ABI-1179, which is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial for the treatment of recurrent genital herpes; and ABI-6250, a small molecule orally bioavailable hepatitis delta virus entry inhibitor that is in Phase 1a clinical trial.