Absci Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:ABSI)

Absci Co. (NASDAQ:ABSI) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 4,017 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 270% compared to the typical volume of 1,085 call options.

Absci Price Performance

Shares of ABSI stock opened at $4.99 on Thursday. Absci has a 52-week low of $2.45 and a 52-week high of $6.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 5.63 and a current ratio of 5.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $573.15 million, a P/E ratio of -5.37 and a beta of 2.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $3.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.70.

Absci (NASDAQ:ABSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.05). Absci had a negative return on equity of 46.56% and a negative net margin of 2,321.56%. The business had revenue of $1.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.24) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Absci will post -0.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Absci

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ABSI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Absci by 88.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 125,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 58,556 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Absci during the 2nd quarter valued at $100,000. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd bought a new stake in Absci during the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Absci during the 3rd quarter valued at $149,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in Absci by 119.5% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 18,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 10,275 shares in the last quarter. 52.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ABSI. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Absci in a report on Friday, January 17th. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on Absci in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $9.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of Absci in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Absci from $6.00 to $5.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Absci currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.57.

About Absci

Absci Corporation operates as a data-first generative artificial intelligence (AI) drug creation company in the United States. The company combines AI with scalable wet lab technologies to create biologics for patients. Its integrated drug creation platform is designed to improve upon traditional biologic drug discovery by using AI to simultaneously optimize multiple drug characteristics that may be important to development and therapeutic benefit.