Short Interest in Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASMB) Rises By 17.4%

Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASMB) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 18,900 shares, an increase of 17.4% from the June 15th total of 16,100 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 17,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John G. Mchutchison sold 2,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.93, for a total value of $31,606.81. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 19,104 shares in the company, valued at approximately $285,222.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Alexander Schornstein acquired 4,438 shares of the firm’s 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 acquisition, the insider now directly owns 693,113 shares in the company, valued at $8,677,774.76. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director John G. Mchutchison sold 2,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.93, for a total transaction of $31,606.81. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $285,222.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,514 shares of company stock valued at $76,055 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assembly Biosciences

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Assembly Biosciences stock. Acuitas Investments LLC bought a new stake in Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASMB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 265,585 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000. Acuitas Investments LLC owned 0.40% of Assembly Biosciences as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors own 19.92% of the company’s stock.

Assembly Biosciences Price Performance

ASMB opened at $15.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.56 and a 200-day moving average of $13.03. Assembly Biosciences has a fifty-two week low of $7.69 and a fifty-two week high of $20.04.

Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.66) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.74) by $1.08. The business had revenue of $5.79 million during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts predict that Assembly Biosciences will post -12.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ASMB. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Assembly Biosciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a report on Thursday, June 20th.

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.