Eton Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ETON) Stock Bumped Up to Strong-Buy by Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Eton Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ETON) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks reports.

ETON has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Craig Hallum increased their target price on shares of Eton Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of Eton Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Eton Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (up from $40.00) on shares of Eton Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Eton Pharmaceuticals from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.50.

Eton Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ ETON opened at $53.33 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 140.34 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.69. Eton Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $14.27 and a 52-week high of $66.37.

Eton Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ETON) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $37.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $27.11 million. Eton Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 12.02% and a return on equity of 40.13%. Equities research analysts predict that Eton Pharmaceuticals will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Eton Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Paul V. Maier sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.07, for a total transaction of $2,953,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 59,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,529,137.15. This trade represents a 45.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider David Krempa sold 4,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.07, for a total transaction of $229,421.62. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 43,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,388,991.67. The trade was a 8.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 79,166 shares of company stock valued at $4,809,672. 16.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eton Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $68,629,000. EcoR1 Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Eton Pharmaceuticals by 7.0% in the first quarter. EcoR1 Capital LLC now owns 2,171,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,603,000 after purchasing an additional 141,394 shares in the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Eton Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $42,569,426. Pillsbury Lake Capital LLC acquired a new position in Eton Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $14,015,083. Finally, Panoramic Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Eton Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,537,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.86% of the company’s stock.

About Eton Pharmaceuticals

Eton Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing, acquiring, and commercializing treatments for rare diseases and other underserved patient populations. The company’s strategy includes advancing proprietary product candidates and obtaining rights to established medicines that can address unmet medical needs.

Eton’s portfolio has included products such as Eprontia (topiramate) oral solution for certain seizure disorders and migraine prevention, Biorphen (phenylephrine hydrochloride) injection for the treatment of clinically important hypotension, and specialty medicines used in the management of rare metabolic and endocrine conditions.