ARS Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SPRY) Shares Down 11.5% Following Insider Selling

ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPRY) shares traded down 11.5% during mid-day trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $12.30 and last traded at $12.66. 592,685 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 1,035,771 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.31.

Specifically, insider Eric Karas sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.00, for a total transaction of $140,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $107,744. This represents a 56.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SPRY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of ARS Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer started coverage on ARS Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, February 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James increased their price objective on ARS Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Leerink Partners increased their price target on ARS Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on ARS Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.00.

ARS Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 13.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.24 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.06 and a 200 day moving average of $13.05.

ARS Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SPRY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $86.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.46 million. Analysts predict that ARS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of ARS Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of ARS Pharmaceuticals by 5,168.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,880,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,942,000 after buying an additional 3,807,074 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in ARS Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,464,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,555,000 after purchasing an additional 115,656 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in ARS Pharmaceuticals by 10.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,049,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,718,000 after purchasing an additional 193,321 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in ARS Pharmaceuticals by 903.0% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,253,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128,724 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in ARS Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,238,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,066,000 after purchasing an additional 3,351 shares during the period. 68.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.