Achieve Life Sciences (NASDAQ:ACHV) Stock Falls 6.8% – Time to Sell?

Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHV)’s stock price traded down 6.8% during trading on Monday. The company traded as low as $6.44 and last traded at $6.3650. 475,831 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 1,352,472 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ACHV shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $18.00 price target on Achieve Life Sciences and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a report on Thursday, August 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $13.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Achieve Life Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Achieve Life Sciences Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $718.24 million, a PE ratio of -4.50 and a beta of 2.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $7.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.66.

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

Insider Transactions 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 shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,768,034.01. This trade represents a 9.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Achieve Life Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACHV. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Achieve Life Sciences during the second quarter worth about $49,725,000. venBio Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Achieve Life Sciences in the second quarter worth about $38,623,122. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Achieve Life Sciences in the second quarter worth about $34,426,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in Achieve Life Sciences in the second quarter valued at about $17,964,000. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in Achieve Life Sciences in the second quarter valued at about $12,575,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.52% of the company’s stock.

About Achieve Life Sciences

Achieve Life Sciences, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing cytisinicline, a therapy designed to help adults quit smoking and overcome nicotine addiction. Cytisinicline is an oral, plant-based small molecule that partially activates nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, with the goal of reducing nicotine cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

The company has evaluated cytisinicline in clinical studies involving adults who smoke cigarettes, including trials assessing smoking cessation and cessation of electronic cigarette use.