Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) Upgraded at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $13.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $3.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Aclaris Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Two equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aclaris Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.80.

Aclaris Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of ACRS opened at $4.32 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $308.58 million, a PE ratio of -8.71 and a beta of 0.10. Aclaris Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.77 and a 1-year high of $5.17. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $1.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.36.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Anand Mehra purchased 666,666 shares of Aclaris Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $2.25 per share, with a total value of $1,499,998.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 710,030 shares in the company, valued at $1,597,567.50. This represents a 1,537.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aclaris Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BML Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 9.7% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 207,418 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake 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 worth $3,671,000 after acquiring an additional 63,358 shares in the last quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 27.6% in the third quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC now owns 2,458,873 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,828,000 after acquiring an additional 531,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trium Capital LLP grew its stake in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 1.1% in the third quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 1,912,990 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,200,000 after acquiring an additional 20,940 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.