Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) Upgraded by Leerink Partners to “Outperform” Rating

Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Leerink Partners currently has $7.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $2.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on ACRS. Piper Sandler upgraded Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $3.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Aclaris Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. StockNews.com raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $2.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.80.

Aclaris Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ACRS opened at $3.80 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $271.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.31 and a beta of 0.10. Aclaris Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.77 and a fifty-two week high of $5.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $1.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.39.

Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $4.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.31 million. Aclaris Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 40.26% and a negative net margin of 136.65%. Research analysts predict that Aclaris Therapeutics will post -0.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Aclaris Therapeutics news, Director Anand Mehra purchased 666,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 purchase, the director now owns 710,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,597,567.50. This trade represents a 1,537.37 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ACRS. BML Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. BML Capital Management LLC now owns 14,250,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,388,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261,866 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 4.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,929,775 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,113,000 after purchasing an additional 207,418 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 1.9% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,336,850 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,671,000 after purchasing an additional 63,358 shares in the last quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 27.6% during the third quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC now owns 2,458,873 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,828,000 after buying an additional 531,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trium Capital LLP boosted its position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 1.1% during the third quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 1,912,990 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after buying an additional 20,940 shares during the last quarter. 98.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.