Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASMB) Short Interest Up 42.6% in September

Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASMB) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 23,100 shares, an increase of 42.6% from the August 31st total of 16,200 shares. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 21,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Assembly Biosciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $2.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

Assembly Biosciences Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ ASMB traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $15.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,177. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $15.55 and a 200 day moving average of $14.56. 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 data on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.98) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, analysts predict that Assembly Biosciences will post -7.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assembly Biosciences

In other news, major shareholder Alexander Schornstein purchased 4,438 shares of Assembly Biosciences stock in a transaction on Friday, July 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.52 per share, for a total transaction of $55,563.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 693,113 shares in the company, valued at $8,677,774.76. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assembly Biosciences

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASMB. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new stake in Assembly Biosciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,421,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 7,690 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.92% of the company’s stock.

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.