Short Interest in Assertio Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASRT) Decreases By 11.5%

Assertio Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASRT) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,540,000 shares, a decrease of 11.5% from the November 15th total of 6,260,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 683,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.1 days.

Insider Transactions at Assertio

In related news, Director Heather L. Mason purchased 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $0.80 per share, with a total value of $60,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 287,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $230,120. This represents a 35.27 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Assertio

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASRT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Assertio by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,919,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,719,000 after acquiring an additional 41,071 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assertio by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 161,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 15,779 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Assertio during the 2nd quarter worth $77,000. Perritt Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Assertio by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc now owns 426,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 59,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in Assertio by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,377,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,948,000 after buying an additional 285,655 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 48.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ASRT has been the topic of several research reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $4.00 target price on shares of Assertio in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of Assertio from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th.

Assertio Price Performance

NASDAQ:ASRT opened at $0.92 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.17. The stock has a market cap of $87.84 million, a PE ratio of -1.26 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 2.01. Assertio has a one year low of $0.73 and a one year high of $1.80.

Assertio (NASDAQ:ASRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.02. Assertio had a negative net margin of 54.46% and a positive return on equity of 3.79%. The firm had revenue of $29.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.01) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Assertio will post -0.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assertio Company Profile

Assertio Holdings, Inc, a commercial pharmaceutical company, provides various products to patients in the United States. Its pharmaceutical products include INDOCIN, an oral and suppository solution for the treatment of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, including acute flares of chronic disease; ankylosing spondylitis and osteoarthritis; and acute painful shoulder and gouty arthritis.