Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASMB) Short Interest Down 16.3% in August

Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASMB) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 10,300 shares, a drop of 16.3% from the July 31st total of 12,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 14,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity at Assembly Biosciences

In other Assembly Biosciences news, major shareholder Alexander Schornstein acquired 4,438 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $12.52 per share, for a total transaction of $55,563.76. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 693,113 shares in the company, valued at $8,677,774.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Assembly Biosciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in Assembly Biosciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,421,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 39.2% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 131.0% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 13,558 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $184,000 after purchasing an additional 7,690 shares during the last quarter. 19.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Assembly Biosciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th.

Assembly Biosciences Stock Performance

Assembly Biosciences stock traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $16.26. 10,700 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,127. Assembly Biosciences has a 1 year low of $7.69 and a 1 year high of $20.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $14.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.93.

Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.98) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.96) by $0.98. The business had revenue of $8.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.96 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Assembly Biosciences will post -7.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Assembly Biosciences Company Profile

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.