Achieve Life Sciences (NASDAQ:ACHV) Shares Down 6.5% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Achieve Life Sciences shares fell 6.5% to about $7.57 during midday trading, with volume approximately 44% below the average session level.
• Analysts remain broadly optimistic, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $15.50, despite some sell ratings. The company’s latest quarterly loss of $0.80 per share significantly exceeded the expected loss of $0.16.
• Institutional investors own 33.52% of the company, while director Richard Stewart recently sold 20,626 shares for about $175,115. Achieve is developing cytisinicline, an investigational treatment for smoking cessation and nicotine dependence.

Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHV - Get Free Report) fell 6.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The company traded as low as $7.61 and last traded at $7.5660. Approximately 759,830 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 1,357,409 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ACHV shares. Stifel Nicolaus set a $18.00 price target on shares of Achieve Life Sciences and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Achieve Life Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $13.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Achieve Life Sciences has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $15.50.

Achieve Life Sciences Stock Down 6.5%

The stock has a market cap of $778.54 million, a P/E ratio of -4.89 and a beta of 2.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm's fifty day moving average is $7.44 and its 200 day moving average is $5.76.

Achieve Life Sciences (NASDAQ:ACHV - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.80) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.64). As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. will post -0.91 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard Stewart sold 20,626 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.49, for a total transaction of $175,114.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 208,249 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,768,034.01. This represents a 9.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Achieve Life Sciences

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ACHV. WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Achieve Life Sciences during the second quarter valued at approximately $278,000. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Achieve Life Sciences during the second quarter worth $49,725,000. AXQ Capital LP increased its holdings in Achieve Life Sciences by 65.6% in the 2nd quarter. AXQ Capital LP now owns 25,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 9,972 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Achieve Life Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $12,575,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Achieve Life Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth about $9,318,000. Institutional investors own 33.52% of the company's stock.

About Achieve Life Sciences

Achieve Life Sciences, Inc is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing cytisinicline, an investigational therapy designed to help adults stop smoking and address nicotine dependence. The company is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol ACHV.

Cytisinicline is a plant-derived small molecule that acts on neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors involved in nicotine addiction. Achieve is evaluating the therapy in clinical studies for smoking cessation and potential support for quitting other forms of nicotine use.

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