Short Interest in Assertio Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASRT) Declines By 6.5%

Assertio Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASRT) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,910,000 shares, a decrease of 6.5% from the December 31st total of 6,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 764,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Assertio

In other news, Director Heather L. Mason acquired 75,000 shares of Assertio stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $0.80 per share, with a total value of $60,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 287,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $230,120. This trade represents a 35.27 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Assertio

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Assertio by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,074,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 42,750 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Assertio by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 455,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 23,369 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Assertio by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 205,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 19,637 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Assertio during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $203,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Assertio during the third quarter valued at approximately $177,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 48.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ASRT. StockNews.com raised Assertio from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $4.00 price target on shares of Assertio in a report on Monday, December 16th.

Assertio Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:ASRT traded down $0.00 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $0.80. The stock had a trading volume of 184,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 435,475. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $0.89 and a 200 day moving average of $1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $76.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.10, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.78. Assertio has a one year low of $0.73 and a one year high of $1.80.

Assertio (NASDAQ:ASRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.02. Assertio had a positive return on equity of 3.79% and a negative net margin of 54.46%. The firm had revenue of $29.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $29.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.01) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Assertio will post -0.15 EPS for the current year.

Assertio Company Profile

Assertio Holdings, Inc, a commercial pharmaceutical company, provides various products to patients in the United States. Its pharmaceutical products include INDOCIN, an oral and suppository solution for the treatment of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, including acute flares of chronic disease; ankylosing spondylitis and osteoarthritis; and acute painful shoulder and gouty arthritis.