AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRX) Raised to “Buy” at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning, The Fly reports.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on ACRX. ValuEngine downgraded AcelRx Pharmaceuticals from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Zacks Investment Research downgraded AcelRx Pharmaceuticals from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of AcelRx Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, August 4th. Roth Capital set a $13.00 target price on AcelRx Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Group LLC reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of AcelRx Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $7.50.

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ ACRX) opened at 2.95 on Wednesday. The firm’s market cap is $133.87 million. AcelRx Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $1.95 and a 1-year high of $4.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $2.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.78.

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACRX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of ($0.28) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 million. AcelRx Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 478.66% and a negative net margin of 319.19%. On average, analysts expect that AcelRx Pharmaceuticals will post ($1.13) earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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In other news, major shareholder Life Sciences Maste Perceptive sold 875,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.40, for a total value of $2,100,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 28.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtu KCG Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of AcelRx Pharmaceuticals by 600.9% in the second quarter. Virtu KCG Holdings LLC now owns 118,675 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 101,742 shares in the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of AcelRx Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $319,000. WealthTrust Axiom LLC increased its position in shares of AcelRx Pharmaceuticals by 50.0% in the second quarter. WealthTrust Axiom LLC now owns 210,000 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 70,000 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of AcelRx Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 112,682 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 6,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV increased its position in shares of AcelRx Pharmaceuticals by 200.0% in the first quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 39,000 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 26,000 shares in the last quarter. 30.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acute pain. The Company operates through the segment, which includes development and commercialization of product candidates for the treatment of pain.