Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) Raised to Strong-Buy at Cantor Fitzgerald

Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) was upgraded by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

ACRS has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $2.00 to $7.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. HC Wainwright upgraded Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. BTIG Research raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Leerink Partners upgraded Aclaris Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $2.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $3.00 to $13.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aclaris Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.00.

Aclaris Therapeutics Stock Up 3.8 %

NASDAQ:ACRS opened at $2.48 on Thursday. Aclaris Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $0.95 and a 52 week high of $5.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $2.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.15 million, a PE ratio of -4.77 and a beta of 0.54.

Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.03). Aclaris Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 136.65% and a negative return on equity of 40.26%. The business had revenue of $4.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.31 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Aclaris Therapeutics will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anand Mehra purchased 666,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $2.25 per share, for a total transaction of $1,499,998.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 710,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,597,567.50. This represents a 1,537.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aclaris Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Peapod Lane Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Aclaris Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,003,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 113.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 397,362 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $985,000 after acquiring an additional 211,585 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 846,446 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $974,000 after acquiring an additional 72,309 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,053,000. Finally, Stonepine Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Aclaris Therapeutics by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC now owns 2,458,873 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,828,000 after purchasing an additional 531,427 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

About Aclaris Therapeutics

Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, engages in the development of novel drug candidates for immune-inflammatory diseases in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Therapeutics and Contract Research. The Therapeutics segment is involved in identifying and developing therapies to address significant unmet needs for immuno-inflammatory diseases.