Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ:ASMB) CEO Jason Okazaki Sells 6,202 Shares of Stock

Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASMB) CEO Jason Okazaki sold 6,202 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.62, for a total transaction of $121,683.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 195,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,836,337.84. The trade was a 3.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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.

Assembly Biosciences Stock Up 2.1%

ASMB opened at $19.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $405.57 million, a PE ratio of 19.13 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.12. Assembly Biosciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.25 and a 52 week high of $39.71.

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

Institutional Trading of Assembly Biosciences

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASMB. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its holdings in shares of Assembly Biosciences by 88.5% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 17,766 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 8,343 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in Assembly Biosciences by 43.7% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 377,000 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Assembly Biosciences during the second quarter worth approximately $660,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Assembly Biosciences by 113.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 10,902 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 5,792 shares during the last quarter. 19.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Assembly Biosciences News

Here are the key news stories impacting Assembly Biosciences this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: UBS lowered its price target to $48 from $52 but kept its Buy rating, leaving a favorable recommendation alongside a more cautious valuation. UBS price target update
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Jason Okazaki and three other insiders sold shares, but the reported sales were to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards—rather than identified open-market sales. The transactions may draw attention but provide limited evidence of a change in company outlook. CEO SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Assembly Biosciences said senior management will participate in one-on-one meetings and present at investor conferences in November; no new business or clinical update was announced. Conference announcement

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ASMB. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Assembly Biosciences from $52.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research raised shares of Assembly Biosciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Mizuho set a $53.00 price target on shares of Assembly Biosciences in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Assembly Biosciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.50.

About Assembly Biosciences

Assembly Biosciences, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing oral therapeutics for serious viral infections. The company’s research programs target chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and herpesvirus infections, including herpes simplex virus (HSV), with the goal of addressing diseases for which existing treatments may not provide adequate cures or long-term control.

Assembly’s pipeline includes novel antiviral candidates designed to interfere with essential stages of viral replication.