Achieve Life Sciences (NASDAQ:ACHV) Share Price Breaks Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHV)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $6.03 and traded as high as $7.13. Achieve Life Sciences shares last traded at $6.97, with a volume of 1,197,519 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on ACHV shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $18.00 target price on Achieve Life Sciences and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 price target on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Achieve Life Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Achieve Life Sciences Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $7.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.04. The firm has a market cap of $656.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.12 and a beta of 2.30.

Achieve Life Sciences (NASDAQ:ACHV) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.80) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.64). Equities research analysts predict that Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. will post -0.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Achieve Life Sciences

In other news, Director Richard Stewart sold 20,626 shares of Achieve Life Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.49, for a total transaction of $175,114.74. Following the sale, the director owned 208,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,768,034.01. This trade represents a 9.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. bought a new position in Achieve Life Sciences in the second quarter worth $49,725,000. venBio Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Achieve Life Sciences during the second quarter worth $38,623,122. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Achieve Life Sciences during the second quarter worth $34,426,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Achieve Life Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $17,964,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in Achieve Life Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $12,575,000. 33.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Achieve Life Sciences Company Profile

Achieve Life Sciences, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing cytisinicline, a plant-based investigational therapy intended to help adults quit smoking and address nicotine addiction. Cytisinicline is designed to act on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain, potentially reducing nicotine cravings and withdrawal symptoms while helping limit the satisfaction associated with smoking.

The company’s primary development program is aimed at securing regulatory approval for cytisinicline in the United States.