Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQT) Short Interest Up 11.1% in May

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQT) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 24,640,000 shares, a growth of 11.1% from the May 15th total of 22,170,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,190,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ARQT shares. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Mizuho upped their price target on Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $6.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Arcutis Biotherapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.38.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Trading Up 2.4 %

ARQT stock opened at $8.15 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 9.89, a quick ratio of 9.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $943.48 million, a P/E ratio of -2.78 and a beta of 1.17. Arcutis Biotherapeutics has a 1-year low of $1.76 and a 1-year high of $13.17. The business’s 50 day moving average is $8.80 and its 200-day moving average is $7.38.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by $0.28. Arcutis Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 197.28% and a negative net margin of 204.35%. The firm had revenue of $49.57 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.31) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Arcutis Biotherapeutics will post -1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Patrick Burnett sold 23,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.75, for a total transaction of $201,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 209,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,835,688.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Patrick Burnett sold 23,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.75, for a total transaction of $201,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 209,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,835,688.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Larry Todd Edwards sold 7,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total value of $68,607.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 140,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,260,432.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,415 shares of company stock worth $285,850 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arcutis Biotherapeutics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 34.3% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 12,176,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,667,000 after buying an additional 3,110,233 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 8,764,232 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,308,000 after purchasing an additional 80,000 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 6,644,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,462,000 after purchasing an additional 1,610,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 5.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,166,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,199,000 after purchasing an additional 269,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 260.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,655,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,037,000 after purchasing an additional 3,363,191 shares during the last quarter.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Company Profile

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing treatments for dermatological diseases. Its lead product candidate is ARQ-151, a topical roflumilast cream that has completed Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of plaque psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.