Abacus Life (NASDAQ:ABL) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Abacus Life, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABL)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $7.38, but opened at $7.18. Abacus Life shares last traded at $7.44, with a volume of 10,153 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ABL. Northland Securities assumed coverage on Abacus Life in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $13.50 target price for the company. B. Riley reduced their price objective on shares of Abacus Life from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Abacus Life to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $13.00 price objective (up from $12.00) on shares of Abacus Life in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.30.

Abacus Life Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $630.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.39 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $7.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.04.

Abacus Life (NASDAQ:ABL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.06. Abacus Life had a negative net margin of 11.65% and a positive return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $28.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.01 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Abacus Life, Inc. will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jay J. Jackson sold 2,031,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $16,250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 10,562,000 shares in the company, valued at $84,496,000. This represents a 16.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Adam Samuel Gusky acquired 18,241 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $7.54 per share, for a total transaction of $137,537.14. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 40,959 shares in the company, valued at approximately $308,830.86. This trade represents a 80.29 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 36,367 shares of company stock valued at $279,626 and have sold 2,263,300 shares valued at $18,106,400. Company insiders own 79.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abacus Life

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABL. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Abacus Life during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,190,000. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp bought a new position in Abacus Life during the second quarter worth about $4,974,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Abacus Life during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,342,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Abacus Life by 439.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 171,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,741,000 after purchasing an additional 140,054 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in shares of Abacus Life by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 297,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,006,000 after buying an additional 77,000 shares during the period.

About Abacus Life

Abacus Life, Inc operates as an alternative asset manager specializing in life insurance products. It purchases life insurance policies from consumers seeking liquidity and manages policies over time via trading, holding, and/or servicing. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in Orlando, Florida.