Needham & Company LLC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Avadel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVDL) Stock Price

Avadel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVDL) had its price target cut by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 140.51% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. HC Wainwright lowered their price target on shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Avadel Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Avadel Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of AVDL opened at $7.90 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $761.26 million, a P/E ratio of -10.00 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s fifty day moving average is $11.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.54. Avadel Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $7.39 and a 1 year high of $19.09.

Avadel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVDL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.03. Avadel Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 52.53% and a negative return on equity of 93.34%. The business had revenue of $50.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.41) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 624.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Avadel Pharmaceuticals will post -0.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Linda Palczuk bought 3,000 shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $10.19 per share, for a total transaction of $30,570.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 66,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $676,616. This trade represents a 4.73 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Geoffrey Michael Glass bought 20,279 shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.84 per share, for a total transaction of $199,545.36. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 75,904 shares in the company, valued at $746,895.36. This represents a 36.46 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 40,579 shares of company stock worth $406,313 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Avadel Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,575,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $642,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,623,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,290,000 after acquiring an additional 483,787 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals by 45.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 392,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,150,000 after acquiring an additional 123,430 shares during the period. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 489,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,414,000 after acquiring an additional 94,239 shares during the period. 69.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avadel Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc operates as a biopharmaceutical company in the United States. Its lead product candidate is LUMRYZ, a formulation of sodium oxybate, which is in a Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness or cataplexy in adults with narcolepsy. The company was formerly known as Flamel Technologies SA and changed its name to Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc in January 2017.