Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO) from a strong sell rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on ABEO. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Abeona Therapeutics from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abeona Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.00.

Abeona Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ABEO opened at $6.39 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $6.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.47. The firm has a market cap of $364.17 million, a PE ratio of 6.59 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 5.89, a quick ratio of 5.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Abeona Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $4.00 and a 1-year high of $7.54.

Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.30) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $8.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.57 million. Research analysts predict that Abeona Therapeutics will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christine Berni Silverstein sold 18,160 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.71, for a total transaction of $103,693.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 119,562 shares in the company, valued at approximately $682,699.02. This trade represents a 13.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Joseph Walter Vazzano sold 39,067 shares of Abeona Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.36, for a total value of $209,399.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 518,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,778,822.32. The trade was a 7.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 312,769 shares of company stock valued at $1,887,560. 7.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abeona Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABEO. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Abeona Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Abeona Therapeutics by 49.6% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 2,155 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Abeona Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $37,000. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 191.4% in the 4th quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 10,307 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 6,770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Abeona Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Abeona Therapeutics

Abeona Therapeutics is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of gene and cell therapies for severe, life‐threatening rare diseases and oncology indications. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Abeona leverages proprietary viral and non‐viral delivery platforms to correct or compensate for underlying genetic deficiencies. The company’s research efforts target pediatric neurodegenerative disorders as well as debilitating dermatologic conditions with high unmet medical need.

The company’s lead clinical programs include separate AAV‐based gene therapies for CLN1 and CLN3 forms of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, alongside an ex vivo autologous cell therapy for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa.