Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASMB) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . 364,071 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 121% from the previous session’s volume of 164,453 shares.The stock last traded at $33.89 and had previously closed at $35.28.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ASMB. Zacks Research raised shares of Assembly Biosciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $43.00 price target on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a report on Friday, July 17th. Mizuho set a $53.00 price objective on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Assembly Biosciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.60.

Assembly Biosciences Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $29.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.31. The company has a market cap of $673.42 million, a PE ratio of 32.44 and a beta of 1.13.

Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.72) by $0.52. The company had revenue of $13.37 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.60 million. Assembly Biosciences had a negative net margin of 0.06% and a negative return on equity of 0.02%. On average, analysts anticipate that Assembly Biosciences, Inc. will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Assembly Biosciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its stake in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 88.5% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 17,766 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 8,343 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in Assembly Biosciences by 43.7% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 34,214 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $940,000 after acquiring an additional 10,410 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Assembly Biosciences during the second quarter valued at about $103,000. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 671.5% during the second quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 433,147 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $11,903,000 after purchasing an additional 377,000 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Assembly Biosciences in the second quarter worth about $660,000. Institutional investors own 19.92% of the company’s stock.

About Assembly Biosciences

Assembly Biosciences, Inc (NASDAQ: ASMB) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis D virus (HDV) infections. The company’s core expertise lies in small-molecule modulation of viral proteins and host-targeted pathways to achieve sustained viral suppression and potential functional cure. Assembly’s research model integrates medicinal chemistry, structural biology and translational virology to advance its pipeline from early discovery through clinical development.

The company’s lead programs include core protein allosteric modulators (CpAMs) designed to disrupt the HBV lifecycle by interfering with capsid assembly and viral DNA replication, as well as prenylation inhibitors targeting the HDV lifecycle.