Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Absci Corporation (NASDAQ:ABSI)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $3.52, but opened at $3.73. Absci shares last traded at $3.6990, with a volume of 1,914,469 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on ABSI shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Absci from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Absci in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Absci in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Absci in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Absci from $6.40 to $5.89 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.78.

Absci Trading Down 3.4%

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.09. The firm has a market cap of $557.72 million, a PE ratio of -4.13 and a beta of 2.13.

Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $0.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 million. Absci had a negative net margin of 4,071.19% and a negative return on equity of 60.19%. On average, equities analysts expect that Absci Corporation will post -0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Absci news, CAO Todd Bedrick bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were bought 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 in the company, valued at $487,155.60. This trade represents a 5.87% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Menelas N. Pangalos bought 95,785 shares of Absci stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $2.66 per share, with a total value of $254,788.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 113,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $303,133.60. The trade was a 527.02% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Absci

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Absci in the 1st quarter worth approximately $118,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Absci in the 1st quarter worth $1,251,000. Independent Advisor Alliance purchased a new position in shares of Absci during the 1st quarter worth $172,000. Neuberger Berman Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Absci in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Absci by 9.5% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 165,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 14,343 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.05% of the company’s stock.

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.