Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO) Earns Buy Rating from HC Wainwright

Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $20.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. HC Wainwright’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 339.56% from the stock’s current price.

ABEO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $17.00 price target on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.00.

Abeona Therapeutics Stock Down 4.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:ABEO opened at $4.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $246.56 million, a P/E ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $5.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.23. The company has a current ratio of 6.93, a quick ratio of 9.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Abeona Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $3.93 and a 12-month high of $7.54.

Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 17th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.34) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.65 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abeona Therapeutics will post -1.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Eric Crombez sold 16,284 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.09, for a total value of $82,885.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 63,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $322,991.04. This trade represents a 20.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Christine Berni Silverstein sold 20,070 shares of Abeona Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.09, for a total transaction of $102,156.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 137,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $701,004.98. This trade represents a 12.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 209,605 shares of company stock worth $1,101,300. Insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abeona Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in Abeona Therapeutics by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,072,985 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $17,455,000 after acquiring an additional 381,357 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 3.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,602,901 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,743,000 after purchasing an additional 95,878 shares in the last quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abeona Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,540,000. Boone Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abeona Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,126,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,137,127 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,994,000 after purchasing an additional 9,996 shares during the last quarter. 80.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abeona Therapeutics Company Profile

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.