Oppenheimer Initiates Coverage on Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS)

Analysts at Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS) in a research note issued on Friday. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $98.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer’s price target suggests a potential upside of 59.48% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on TARS. Wall Street Zen downgraded Tarsus Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research cut Tarsus Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Lifesci Capital raised shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tarsus Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.67.

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of TARS stock opened at $61.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.85, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of -37.93 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.29. Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $38.51 and a 52 week high of $85.25.

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.01). Tarsus Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 19.63% and a negative net margin of 14.72%.The business had revenue of $151.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.56 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Tarsus Pharmaceuticals will post -0.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Tarsus Pharmaceuticals

In other Tarsus Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel Bryan Wahl sold 4,231 shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $283,477.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 63,959 shares in the company, valued at $4,285,253. The trade was a 6.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Bobak R. Azamian sold 11,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $801,588.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 33,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,239,207. The trade was a 26.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 79,391 shares of company stock worth $5,432,035 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 8.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TARS. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 31,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,613,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 55,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,229,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Tarsus Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in Tarsus Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 12,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapies for diseases of the eye and ocular surface. The company’s research platform centers on neuro‐effector modulation to address underlying disease mechanisms rather than solely treating symptoms. Tarsus’s lead candidate, OC-01 (varenicline solution), is an intranasal formulation in Phase 3 development for the treatment of dry eye disease, a condition affecting millions worldwide and associated with significant patient discomfort and reduced quality of life.

In addition to its dry eye program, Tarsus is advancing preclinical and early‐stage programs targeting other ophthalmic indications, including allergic conjunctivitis and retinal disorders.