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

Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,920,000 shares, a growth of 15.6% from the January 15th total of 3,390,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Insider Transactions at Aclaris Therapeutics

In other news, Director Anand Mehra acquired 666,666 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $2.25 per share, for a total transaction of $1,499,998.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 710,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,597,567.50. This trade represents a 1,537.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aclaris Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Aclaris Therapeutics by 113.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 397,362 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $985,000 after buying an additional 211,585 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Aclaris Therapeutics by 187.6% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 332,406 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 216,826 shares during the period. BML Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $16,388,000 after buying an additional 1,261,866 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 72,309 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Aclaris Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $1,053,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

Aclaris Therapeutics Stock Up 5.9 %

Shares of Aclaris Therapeutics stock opened at $2.33 on Monday. Aclaris Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $0.95 and a twelve month high of $5.17. The stock has a market cap of $166.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.48 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s fifty day moving average is $2.66 and its 200 day moving average is $2.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACRS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of 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 research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $3.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. HC Wainwright raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $2.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.00.

Aclaris Therapeutics Company Profile

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.