Avadel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVDL) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals PLC. (NASDAQ:AVDL) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $19.24, but opened at $23.27. Avadel Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $23.0850, with a volume of 6,804,906 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on AVDL shares. HC Wainwright downgraded Avadel Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $20.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Leerink Partners reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $18.50 target price on shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, August 8th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $17.81.

Avadel Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -769.50 and a beta of 1.47. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $16.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.67.

Avadel Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AVDL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.00 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.04 by ($0.04). Avadel Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 1.32% and a negative return on equity of 3.73%. The firm had revenue of $77.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.05 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.03) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 55.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Avadel Pharmaceuticals PLC. will post -0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avadel Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Avadel Pharmaceuticals by 13.0% in the second quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 13,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Avadel Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 1,759 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Avadel Pharmaceuticals by 164.5% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 2,055 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Avadel Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 54,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 2,291 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in Avadel Pharmaceuticals by 195.4% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.19% of the company’s stock.

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.