Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO) Rating Increased to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

ABEO has been the topic of several other research reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $17.00 target price on Abeona Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.00.

Abeona Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of ABEO opened at $5.78 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 5.70, a current ratio of 5.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Abeona Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $4.00 and a 12-month high of $7.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $329.40 million, a PE ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5.10.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abeona Therapeutics news, Director Mark Alvino sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.46, for a total value of $35,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 77,565 shares in the company, valued at $423,504.90. This represents a 7.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Madhav Vasanthavada sold 5,548 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total value of $33,066.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 313,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,865,903.16. This trade represents a 1.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 38,191 shares of company stock worth $213,127 over the last ninety days. 7.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abeona Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 49.6% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 6,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155 shares in the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 13,180 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 2,290 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 39,368 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 2,303 shares in the last quarter. Rangeley Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 4.2% in the first quarter. Rangeley Capital LLC now owns 60,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 62,873 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 3,165 shares in the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.