Joseph Walter Vazzano Sells 39,067 Shares of Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO) Stock

Abeona Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ABEO) CFO Joseph Walter Vazzano sold 39,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total transaction of $209,399.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 518,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,778,822.32. This represents a 7.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Joseph Walter Vazzano also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, June 8th, Joseph Walter Vazzano sold 10,271 shares of Abeona Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.43, for a total transaction of $55,771.53.

Abeona Therapeutics Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ ABEO opened at $5.36 on Thursday. Abeona Therapeutics Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.00 and a 12 month high of $7.54. The company has a 50-day moving average of $5.40 and a 200-day moving average of $5.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 5.89 and a quick ratio of 5.70. The company has a market cap of $305.49 million, a P/E ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 1.35.

Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.33) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $8.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.57 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Abeona Therapeutics Inc. will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Abeona Therapeutics

Here are the key news stories impacting Abeona Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Abeona’s last quarterly report beat expectations, with EPS of -$0.30 versus -$0.33 expected and revenue of $8.72 million versus $4.57 million forecast, supporting the longer-term bullish thesis.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain generally constructive, with an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $19.00, well above the current share price.
• Neutral Sentiment: The company updated its investor presentation under Regulation FD, which appears to be a routine communications update rather than a major business catalyst. Article: Abeona Therapeutics Updates Investor Presentation Under Regulation FD
• Neutral Sentiment: Abeona continues to show strong liquidity and low leverage, which gives it financial flexibility while it advances its gene- and cell-therapy pipeline.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Vishwas Seshadri sold shares in multiple transactions, and CFO Joseph Walter Vazzano also sold shares, adding to investor concern about insider confidence, even though the company said the sales were tied to tax withholding and equity vesting.
• Negative Sentiment: Additional selling from insiders Madhav Vasanthavada and Brendan M. O’Malley reinforces the near-term overhang from insider distribution.

Institutional Trading of Abeona Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Abeona Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 49.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Abeona Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Truvestments Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 191.4% during the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 10,307 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 6,770 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abeona Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ABEO shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Abeona Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $17.00 target price on Abeona Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abeona Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.00.

About Abeona Therapeutics

Abeona Therapeutics is a clinical?stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of gene and cell therapies for severe, life?threatening rare diseases and oncology indications. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Abeona leverages proprietary viral and non?viral delivery platforms to correct or compensate for underlying genetic deficiencies. The company’s research efforts target pediatric neurodegenerative disorders as well as debilitating dermatologic conditions with high unmet medical need.

The company’s lead clinical programs include separate AAV?based gene therapies for CLN1 and CLN3 forms of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, alongside an ex vivo autologous cell therapy for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa.