Absci Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:ABSI)

Absci Corporation (NASDAQ:ABSI) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 2,589 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 86% compared to the typical volume of 1,391 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Absci in a report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. 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 note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Absci from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Absci from $6.40 to $5.89 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Absci has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.98.

Absci Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ABSI opened at $3.55 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $2.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $530.81 million, a P/E ratio of -3.78 and a beta of 2.06. Absci has a 1 year low of $2.01 and a 1 year high of $6.33.

Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $0.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.39 million. Absci had a negative net margin of 2,737.94% and a negative return on equity of 60.21%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Absci will post -0.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Absci

In other Absci news, CAO Todd Bedrick bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $2.70 per share, for a total transaction of $27,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 180,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $487,155.60. This represents a 5.87% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Menelas N. Pangalos bought 95,785 shares of Absci stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $2.66 per share, for a total transaction of $254,788.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 113,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $303,133.60. The trade was a 527.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 155,785 shares of company stock worth $433,788 in the last quarter. 10.49% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Absci

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Absci in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Absci in the first quarter worth $26,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in shares of Absci in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in shares of Absci during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Absci during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. 52.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Absci Company Profile

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.