ARS Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SPRY) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRY) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after Leerink Partners lowered their price target on the stock from $25.00 to $24.00. The stock had previously closed at $10.54, but opened at $7.79. Leerink Partners currently has an outperform rating on the stock. ARS Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $7.53, with a volume of 1,021,475 shares changing hands.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on SPRY. Wall Street Zen upgraded ARS Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Northland Securities initiated coverage on shares of ARS Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ARS Pharmaceuticals from a “sell (e+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of ARS Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of ARS Pharmaceuticals from $12.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.20.

Insider Activity at ARS Pharmaceuticals

In other ARS Pharmaceuticals news, insider Eric Karas sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 12,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,760. This represents a 67.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Alexander A. Fitzpatrick sold 3,355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $33,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 90,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $909,100. This represents a 3.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 33.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ARS Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SPRY. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of ARS Pharmaceuticals by 1,075.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 16,969 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in ARS Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $140,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in ARS Pharmaceuticals by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 279,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,520,000 after buying an additional 32,526 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in ARS Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 34,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 2,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in ARS Pharmaceuticals by 55.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 54,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 19,484 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.16% of the company’s stock.

ARS Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $848.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.25 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 4.77 and a current ratio of 4.94.

ARS Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SPRY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 15th. The company reported ($0.61) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $22.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.20 million. ARS Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 153.61% and a negative net margin of 200.00%. Sell-side analysts forecast that ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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. ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.