Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) Raised to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $35.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $2.00.

Separately, HC Wainwright restated a neutral rating on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a research note on Thursday, June 20th.

Assembly Biosciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ASMB opened at $19.43 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.48. Assembly Biosciences has a twelve month low of $7.69 and a twelve month high of $20.04.

Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.98) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.96) by $0.98. The company had revenue of $8.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.96 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Assembly Biosciences will post -7.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Alexander Schornstein purchased 4,438 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $12.52 per share, with a total value of $55,563.76. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 693,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,677,774.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assembly Biosciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASMB. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 131.0% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,558 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $184,000 after acquiring an additional 7,690 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Assembly Biosciences by 39.2% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 54,911 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $753,000 after purchasing an additional 15,451 shares during the period. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Assembly Biosciences in the second quarter valued at about $6,421,000. 19.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Assembly Biosciences

Assembly Biosciences, Inc, a biotechnology company, develops therapeutic candidates for the treatment of viral diseases. It develops ABI-5366, a long-acting herpes simplex virus (HSV) helicase-primase inhibitor that is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial to treat recurrent genital herpes; ABI-1179, which is in Phase 1a/1b clinical trial for the treatment of recurrent genital herpes; and ABI-6250, a small molecule orally bioavailable hepatitis delta virus entry inhibitor that is in Phase 1a clinical trial.