Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Takes Position in ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRY)

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC invested approximately $543,000 in ARS Pharmaceuticals by acquiring 43,144 shares in the first quarter.
• ARS Pharmaceuticals recently saw its stock rating downgraded from "hold" to "sell" by Wall Street Zen, despite having some analysts rating it a "strong buy."
• Insider trading activity included significant sales of shares by Director Brent L. Saunders and CFO Kathleen D. Scott, with over 1 million shares sold in the past three months.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRY - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 43,144 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $543,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SPRY. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in ARS Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $122,000. Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in ARS Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,142,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in ARS Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $73,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its holdings in ARS Pharmaceuticals by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 21,408 shares of the company's stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 2,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in ARS Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,464,952 shares of the company's stock worth $36,555,000 after buying an additional 115,656 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.16% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at ARS Pharmaceuticals

In other ARS Pharmaceuticals news, insider Alexander A. Fitzpatrick sold 102,969 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.10, for a total value of $1,451,862.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 89,613 shares in the company, valued at $1,263,543.30. This represents a 53.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric Karas sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.99, for a total transaction of $254,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,315 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $175,251.85. The trade was a 59.25% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,043,118 shares of company stock worth $18,024,863. 33.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ARS Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.3%

ARS Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.87. The stock had a trading volume of 2,727,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,323,674. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $16.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.91. ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.91 and a twelve month high of $18.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 11.00 and a quick ratio of 10.74. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -111.68 and a beta of 0.90.

ARS Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SPRY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.35). ARS Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 16.11% and a negative return on equity of 6.94%. The firm had revenue of $7.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.48 million. Equities analysts anticipate that ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut shares of ARS Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.00.

About ARS Pharmaceuticals

ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, develops treatments for severe allergic reactions. The company is developing neffy, a needle-free and low-dose intranasal epinephrine nasal spray for the emergency treatment of Type I allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. It serves healthcare professionals, patients, and caregivers.