Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) Trading Up 17.1% – What’s Next?

Absci Corporation (NASDAQ:ABSI) shares were up 17.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $6.59 and last traded at $6.9560. Approximately 916,666 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 4,108,024 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ABSI shares. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Absci in a research report on Thursday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $12.00 price target for the company. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Absci in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $9.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Absci in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Absci in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $4.10 target price on Absci in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Absci has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.52.

Absci Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.30 and a beta of 2.44.

Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by $0.01. Absci had a negative net margin of 6,450.76% and a negative return on equity of 66.32%. The company had revenue of $0.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.39 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Absci Corporation will post -0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andreas Busch acquired 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $2.29 per share, with a total value of $229,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 421,446 shares in the company, valued at $965,111.34. This trade represents a 31.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 10.49% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Absci

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ABSI. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Absci by 279.4% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 55,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 40,901 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Absci by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 314,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $790,000 after acquiring an additional 46,975 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in Absci by 32.9% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 1,391,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,492,000 after acquiring an additional 344,270 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Absci by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,445,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,286,000 after buying an additional 448,984 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Absci by 145.4% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 46,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 27,775 shares during the period. 52.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Absci

Absci Corporation (NASDAQ: ABSI) is a biotechnology company that applies machine learning, synthetic biology and automation to accelerate the discovery and development of protein-based therapeutics. The company’s Integrated Drug Creation® (IDC®) platform is designed to identify and produce novel antibody and enzyme candidates at speeds and scales that traditional biopharma discovery methods cannot match. Absci works with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners to generate, screen and optimize protein molecules for a wide range of therapeutic applications.

The core of Absci’s offering is its end-to-end discovery engine, which combines proprietary algorithms, high-throughput laboratory automation and a deep learning framework.