Stock to Watch: Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN)

[Benzinga] Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN) is trending higher Wednesday following positive comments from FBR Capital. Andrew Berens maintained an Outperform rating and $12 price target.Berens noted that Achillion’s NS5a inhibitor is considered to be the best in class. Berens commented on the abstracts released by the company Wednesday stating, "We view this data as incrementally positive, as it shows ACHN’s NS5A appears to have potent activity when used in combination with a nuc backbone. This is important ahead of phase I proof-of-concept data for Achillion’s main value driver, the nucleotide polymerase inhibitor (nuc) ACH-3422, due in late fall 2014."Stock PerformanceTaking a look at the company’s recent performance, Achillion Pharmaceuticals reported second quarter earnings for fiscal 2014 on August 7^th. The company reported actual earnings per share of $-0.16 against the consensus Street estimate of $-0.18. Achillion Pharmaceuticals is currently valued at $945.16 million and closed the last trading session at $9.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.05 and a 200-day moving average of $6.40.Is this a Buying Opportunity?There are currently nine analysts that we track that cover the stock. Of those nine, seven have a Buy rating and two have a hold rating. On a consensus basis this yields a score of 2.78 and a Buy. The combined price objective of these covering analysts is $11.17, which represents a 11.89% difference to the last closing price. The most recent analyst activity consisted of Deutsche Bank reiterating their Buy stance on the company. On the date of the report, the stock closed at $9.98.Another research firm weighing in recently was Credit Suisse who also reiterated their rating on the stock. On August 21^st Credit Suisse boosted their price target on the stock from $4 to $10, or a 3.4% upside to the current price. On the day of the report, ACHN shares closed at $9.47.Company ProfileAchillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN), a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes anti-infective drug therapies in the United States and internationally. It focuses on developing combination therapies for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infection and resistant bacterial infections. The company’s drug candidates for treating chronic HCV infection comprise Sovaprevir, a NS3/4A protease inhibitor, which has completed a Phase IIa clinical trial; ACH-3102, a NS5A inhibitor that is in Phase IIa clinical trial; ACH-3422, a NS5B nucleotide polymerase inhibitor, which has completed preclinical studies; and ACH-2684, a NS3/4A protease inhibitor that has completed Phase Ia and Ib clinical trials. It has a license and development agreement with Ora, Inc. for the development and commercialization of ACH-702, an antibacterial drug candidate that is delivered topically or locally. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in New Haven, Connecticut.