Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:JAZZ) Sets New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (NASDAQ:JAZZ) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as low as $102.86 and last traded at $103.53, with a volume of 304466 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $105.09.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on JAZZ. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals from $222.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 20th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals from $117.00 to $113.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $169.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Jazz Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Jazz Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $188.62.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Neena M. Patil sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.65, for a total transaction of $548,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 36,629 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,016,369.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 4.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JAZZ. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Jazz Pharmaceuticals by 65.5% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 293 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in Jazz Pharmaceuticals by 26.0% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 115,308 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,938,000 after purchasing an additional 23,768 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in Jazz Pharmaceuticals by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 161,388 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $19,434,000 after purchasing an additional 50,300 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its stake in Jazz Pharmaceuticals by 31.8% during the 1st quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 11,696 shares of the specialty pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,408,000 after purchasing an additional 2,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Jazz Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $228,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.14% of the company’s stock.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.27. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.26. The company has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.58.

Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:JAZZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty pharmaceutical company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.53 by ($1.55). Jazz Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 27.86% and a net margin of 8.61%. The business had revenue of $901.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $938.99 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc will post 15.35 EPS for the current year.

About Jazz Pharmaceuticals

Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc identifies, develops, and commercializes pharmaceutical products for unmet medical needs in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company offers Xywav for cataplexy or excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) with narcolepsy and idiopathic hypersomnia; Xyrem to treat cataplexy or EDS with narcolepsy; Epidiolex for seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes, or tuberous sclerosis complex; Zepzelca to treat metastatic small cell lung cancer, or with disease progression on or after platinum-based chemotherapy; Rylaze for acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoblastic lymphoma; Enrylaze to treat acute lymphoblastic leukemia and lymphoblastic lymphoma; Defitelio to treat severe hepatic veno-occlusive disease; and Vyxeos for newly-diagnosed therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia.