Madhav Vasanthavada Sells 4,170 Shares of Abeona Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ABEO) Stock

Abeona Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:ABEO) insider Madhav Vasanthavada sold 4,170 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.43, for a total value of $22,643.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 308,901 shares in the company, valued at $1,677,332.43. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Madhav Vasanthavada also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, June 9th, Madhav Vasanthavada sold 5,450 shares of Abeona Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.30, for a total value of $28,885.00.
• On Monday, May 11th, Madhav Vasanthavada sold 5,548 shares of Abeona Therapeutics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.96, for a total value of $33,066.08.

Abeona Therapeutics Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of ABEO stock opened at $5.36 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 5.70 and a current ratio of 5.89. Abeona Therapeutics Inc. has a twelve month low of $4.00 and a twelve month high of $7.54. The company has a market capitalization of $305.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.53 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABEO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Abeona Therapeutics from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, March 9th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Abeona Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $17.00 price target on Abeona Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.00.

Key Abeona Therapeutics News

Here are the key news stories impacting Abeona Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Abeona’s last quarterly report beat expectations, with EPS of -$0.30 versus -$0.33 expected and revenue of $8.72 million versus $4.57 million forecast, supporting the longer-term bullish thesis.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain generally constructive, with an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $19.00, well above the current share price.
• Neutral Sentiment: The company updated its investor presentation under Regulation FD, which appears to be a routine communications update rather than a major business catalyst. Article: Abeona Therapeutics Updates Investor Presentation Under Regulation FD
• Neutral Sentiment: Abeona continues to show strong liquidity and low leverage, which gives it financial flexibility while it advances its gene- and cell-therapy pipeline.
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Vishwas Seshadri sold shares in multiple transactions, and CFO Joseph Walter Vazzano also sold shares, adding to investor concern about insider confidence, even though the company said the sales were tied to tax withholding and equity vesting.
• Negative Sentiment: Additional selling from insiders Madhav Vasanthavada and Brendan M. O’Malley reinforces the near-term overhang from insider distribution.

Institutional Trading of Abeona Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. AIGH Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 55.0% during the first quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC now owns 3,100,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,888,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100,000 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 14.2% during the second 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 purchasing an additional 381,357 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 period. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Abeona Therapeutics by 56.4% during the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 1,050,863 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,549,000 after purchasing an additional 378,860 shares during the period. 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.