Short Interest in Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:AVDL) Drops By 8.3%

Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:AVDL) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,550,000 shares, a drop of 8.3% from the January 15th total of 11,510,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,520,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.9 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Thomas S. Mchugh bought 5,000 shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $10.49 per share, with a total value of $52,450.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 85,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $896,895. This represents a 6.21 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Linda Palczuk bought 3,000 shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $10.19 per share, for a total transaction of $30,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 66,400 shares in the company, valued at $676,616. The trade was a 4.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 55,579 shares of company stock valued at $526,363 in the last quarter. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avadel Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Two Seas Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals by 90.6% in the 4th quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 4,296,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,156,000 after acquiring an additional 2,042,669 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals by 58.1% in the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,173,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,840,000 after buying an additional 798,415 shares during the period. Braidwell LP boosted its position in shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 4,105,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,151,000 after buying an additional 716,787 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals by 42.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,623,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,290,000 after buying an additional 483,787 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals by 79.7% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 1,056,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,108,000 after buying an additional 468,757 shares during the period. 69.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avadel Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of AVDL stock opened at $8.61 on Monday. Avadel Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $7.39 and a 1 year high of $19.09. The stock has a market cap of $829.66 million, a PE ratio of -10.90 and a beta of 1.28. The business’s fifty day moving average is $9.26 and its 200-day moving average is $12.14.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVDL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Avadel Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $12.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Avadel Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Avadel Pharmaceuticals from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Avadel Pharmaceuticals from $22.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.88.

Avadel Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc operates as a biopharmaceutical company in the United States. Its lead product candidate is LUMRYZ, a formulation of sodium oxybate, which is in a Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness or cataplexy in adults with narcolepsy. The company was formerly known as Flamel Technologies SA and changed its name to Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc in January 2017.