Wellington Management Group LLP Makes New Investment in Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. $ACHV

Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHV) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,426,915 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,318,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ACHV. venBio Partners LLC acquired a new position in Achieve Life Sciences during the second quarter worth $38,623,122. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Achieve Life Sciences in the second quarter valued at $34,426,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $21,715,000 after acquiring an additional 4,346,011 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Achieve Life Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth $17,964,000. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Achieve Life Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth $2,652,000. 33.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ACHV. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 target price on shares of Achieve Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. 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 target for the company. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating 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, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.00.

Achieve Life Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ACHV opened at $7.84 on Wednesday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $7.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.39. Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $2.62 and a 52 week high of $8.64. The stock has a market cap of $806.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.06 and a beta of 2.25.

Achieve Life Sciences (NASDAQ:ACHV) last announced its quarterly 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). As a group, research analysts forecast that Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. will post -0.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard Stewart sold 20,626 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director directly owned 208,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,768,034.01. The trade was a 9.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Achieve Life Sciences 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.