Eton Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ETON) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Eton Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ETON) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Eton Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Eton Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eton Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.67.

Eton Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Eton Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $16.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 207,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 278,710. Eton Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $8.43 and a twelve month high of $23.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $18.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $454.33 million, a P/E ratio of -67.76 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Eton Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ETON) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.20). Eton Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 11.32% and a negative net margin of 9.50%.The company had revenue of $22.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.47 million. Research analysts forecast that Eton Pharmaceuticals will post -0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO James R. Gruber sold 2,631 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.02, for a total transaction of $42,148.62. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 204,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,280,143.06. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 16.03% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eton Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ETON. Opaleye Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eton Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the second quarter. Opaleye Management Inc. now owns 2,860,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,755,000 after buying an additional 7,930 shares during the last quarter. EcoR1 Capital LLC lifted its position in Eton Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. EcoR1 Capital LLC now owns 2,030,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,935,000 after acquiring an additional 40,756 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Eton Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,344,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,208,000 after acquiring an additional 31,942 shares during the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Eton Pharmaceuticals by 5.1% during the first quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 1,175,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,264,000 after acquiring an additional 57,468 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Eton Pharmaceuticals by 98.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 592,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,450,000 after purchasing an additional 294,617 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.86% of the company’s stock.

Eton Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Eton Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a specialty pharmaceutical company, focuses on developing, acquiring, and commercializing pharmaceutical products for rare diseases. The company offers ALKINDI SPRINKLE, a replacement therapy for adrenocortical insufficiency in children under 17 years of age; Carglumic Acid for the treatment of acute and chronic hyperammonemia due to N-acetylglutamate Synthase deficiency; Betaine Anhydrous for the treatment of homocystinuria; and Nitisinone for the treatment of tyrosinemia type 1.