Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) Rating Increased to Buy at HC Wainwright

Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) was upgraded by investment analysts at HC Wainwright from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $20.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Piper Sandler raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $3.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Leerink Partners raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $2.00 to $7.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. BTIG Research raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.00.

Aclaris Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of ACRS stock opened at $2.90 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $2.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.75. Aclaris Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.86 and a 1-year high of $5.17. The company has a market cap of $207.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.58 and a beta of 0.44.

Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $4.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.31 million. Aclaris Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 40.26% and a negative net margin of 136.65%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aclaris Therapeutics will post -0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aclaris Therapeutics

In related news, Director Anand Mehra purchased 666,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $2.25 per share, with a total value of $1,499,998.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 710,030 shares in the company, valued at $1,597,567.50. The trade was a 1,537.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aclaris Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 9.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 846,446 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $974,000 after acquiring an additional 72,309 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in Aclaris Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,053,000. Stonepine Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Aclaris Therapeutics by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC now owns 2,458,873 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,828,000 after purchasing an additional 531,427 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 187.6% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 332,406 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $382,000 after buying an additional 216,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BML Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 9.7% during the third quarter. BML Capital Management LLC now owns 14,250,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,388,000 after buying an additional 1,261,866 shares in 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.