Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS – Get Rating) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,300,000 shares, a growth of 8.9% from the February 13th total of 3,030,000 shares. Currently, 6.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 884,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on ACRS. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Aclaris Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, February 7th. HC Wainwright cut their target price on Aclaris Therapeutics from $50.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Aclaris Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, December 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Aclaris Therapeutics from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. Finally, BTIG Research cut their target price on Aclaris Therapeutics from $32.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.00.

Insider Activity at Aclaris Therapeutics

In related news, insider Joseph Monahan sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.88, for a total value of $79,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,386 shares in the company, valued at $1,530,609.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Aclaris Therapeutics news, CEO Douglas J. Manion purchased 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 9th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $7.74 per share, for a total transaction of $50,310.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,310. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Monahan sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.88, for a total value of $79,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,386 shares in the company, valued at $1,530,609.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 79,067 shares of company stock worth $1,074,015 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aclaris Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Aclaris Therapeutics by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,730,253 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $98,789,000 after buying an additional 190,985 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,810,298 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $75,714,000 after purchasing an additional 140,382 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,931,709 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $46,145,000 after purchasing an additional 118,024 shares during the last quarter. Commodore Capital LP increased its position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Commodore Capital LP now owns 2,410,622 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $33,652,000 after purchasing an additional 95,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Braidwell LP purchased a new stake in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $37,705,000. 95.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Aclaris Therapeutics Trading Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ ACRS opened at $8.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $542.86 million, a P/E ratio of -6.12 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.20. Aclaris Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $5.77 and a 12 month high of $18.96.

Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 23rd. The biotechnology company reported ($0.41) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.99 million. Aclaris Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 41.71% and a negative net margin of 292.11%. Aclaris Therapeutics’s quarterly revenue was up 420.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.37) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Aclaris Therapeutics will post -1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aclaris Therapeutics Company Profile

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Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc operates as a dermatologist-led biopharmaceutical company, which engages in identifying, developing, and commercializing novel drugs to address the needs in medical and aesthetic dermatology and immunology. It operates through the Therapeutics and Contract Research segments.