Short Interest in Abeona Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ABEO) Drops By 24.2%

Abeona Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ABEO) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,290,000 shares, a decrease of 24.2% from the May 15th total of 3,020,000 shares. Currently, 5.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 712,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ABEO. StockNews.com cut Abeona Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Abeona Therapeutics from $28.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Leila Alland bought 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $4.71 per share, for a total transaction of $51,810.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 82,857 shares in the company, valued at $390,256.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Leila Alland acquired 11,000 shares of Abeona Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.71 per share, for a total transaction of $51,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 82,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $390,256.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Vishwas Seshadri bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $3.20 per share, with a total value of $32,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 538,260 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,722,432. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 42,758 shares of company stock worth $154,047 over the last three months. 5.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abeona Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in Abeona Therapeutics by 84.5% in the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,249,994 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,682,000 after purchasing an additional 1,488,834 shares during the last quarter. Western Standard LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 68.5% during the 1st quarter. Western Standard LLC now owns 1,361,489 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,871,000 after acquiring an additional 553,377 shares during the last quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Abeona Therapeutics by 77.7% during the 3rd quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC now owns 1,135,252 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,779,000 after acquiring an additional 496,278 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Abeona Therapeutics by 125.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 450,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,894,000 after acquiring an additional 250,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in Abeona Therapeutics by 100.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 371,276 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 185,638 shares during the period. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abeona Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of ABEO stock opened at $4.57 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $187.19 million, a PE ratio of -1.43 and a beta of 1.53. Abeona Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $2.83 and a 1 year high of $9.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.65.

Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 15th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.53) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.47) by ($0.06). Equities research analysts expect that Abeona Therapeutics will post -1.75 EPS for the current year.

About Abeona Therapeutics

Abeona Therapeutics Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and delivering gene therapy products for severe and life-threatening rare diseases. The company's lead programs are EB-101 (gene-corrected skin grafts) for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB); ABO-102, which are AAV based gene therapies for Sanfilippo syndrome type A; and ABO-101, an adeno-associated virus (AAV) based gene therapies for Sanfilippo syndrome type B.