Needham & Company LLC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) Stock Price

Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) had its price objective decreased by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $8.00 to $7.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 154.08% from the company’s current price.

ABSI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Absci in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Absci from $6.40 to $5.89 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Absci from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Absci in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.78.

Absci Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ABSI traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $2.76. The stock had a trading volume of 4,860,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,833,621. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.05. Absci has a 1 year low of $2.01 and a 1 year high of $6.33. The firm has a market cap of $411.93 million, a P/E ratio of -2.94 and a beta of 2.11.

Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.01). Absci had a negative net margin of 2,737.94% and a negative return on equity of 60.21%. The firm had revenue of $0.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 million. Equities research analysts predict that Absci will post -0.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Todd Bedrick purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $2.70 per share, with a total value of $27,000.00. Following the purchase, the chief accounting officer directly owned 180,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $487,155.60. The trade was a 5.87% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Menelas N. Pangalos purchased 95,785 shares of Absci stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $2.66 per share, for a total transaction of $254,788.10. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 113,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $303,133.60. This represents a 527.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Absci

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in Absci by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 14,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 3,729 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in Absci in the first quarter worth $5,792,000. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Absci by 43.8% during the 1st quarter. Pier 88 Investment Partners LLC now owns 303,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $762,000 after buying an additional 92,460 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in shares of Absci by 38.2% during the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,218,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,059,000 after buying an additional 336,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its holdings in Absci by 30.6% in the 1st quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 1,493,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,735,000 after acquiring an additional 350,036 shares in the last quarter. 52.05% of the stock is owned by 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.