Brokerages Set Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHV) Price Target at $15.00

Shares of Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHV) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.00.

Several analysts recently commented on ACHV shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Achieve Life Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday, August 19th.

Achieve Life Sciences Stock Performance

ACHV opened at $8.48 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.28. Achieve Life Sciences has a 52-week low of $2.62 and a 52-week high of $8.61. The company has a market cap of $872.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.47 and a beta of 2.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Achieve Life Sciences (NASDAQ:ACHV) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.64). Equities analysts anticipate that Achieve Life Sciences will post -0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Achieve Life Sciences news, Director Richard Alistair Stewart sold 20,626 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.49, for a total value of $175,114.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 208,249 shares in the company, valued at $1,768,034.01. This represents a 9.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. acquired a new position in Achieve Life Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,725,000. venBio Partners LLC acquired a new position in Achieve Life Sciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,623,122. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Achieve Life Sciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,426,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Achieve Life Sciences by 18,747.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,369,193 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $21,715,000 after acquiring an additional 4,346,011 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in Achieve Life Sciences during the second quarter worth $17,964,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.52% of the company’s stock.

Achieve Life Sciences Company Profile

Achieve Life Sciences, Inc (NASDAQ: ACHV) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the development and commercialization of cytisinicline, a plant-derived alkaloid for smoking cessation. The company’s mission is to offer a novel, evidence-based therapy that addresses the global need for effective and well-tolerated smoking cessation options. Achieve focuses its efforts on advancing the clinical profile of cytisinicline through rigorous development programs and regulatory engagement.

Cytisinicline (formerly marketed as Tabex® in Europe) acts as a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial agonist, helping reduce withdrawal symptoms and nicotine cravings.