Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 884,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Currently, 6.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Aclaris Therapeutics

In other news, insider Joseph Monahan sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,530,609.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Joseph Monahan sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,530,609.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Neal Walker sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.25, for a total value of $381,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,220,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,616,635.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 79,067 shares of company stock valued at $1,074,015 over the last quarter. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aclaris Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ACRS. Braidwell LP purchased a new position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,705,000. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,677,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 933.8% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 461,596 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $6,444,000 after purchasing an additional 416,946 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $98,789,000 after purchasing an additional 190,985 shares during the period. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 1,118,417 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $17,603,000 after purchasing an additional 165,345 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.33% of the company’s stock.

Aclaris Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ ACRS opened at $8.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $542.86 million, a PE ratio of -6.12 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.20. Aclaris Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $5.77 and a 1-year 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) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $7.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.99 million. Aclaris Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 41.71% and a negative net margin of 292.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 420.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.37) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Aclaris Therapeutics will post -1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on ACRS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Aclaris Therapeutics in a research 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 for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Aclaris Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, December 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $29.00 target price for the company. BTIG Research cut their target price on Aclaris Therapeutics from $32.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Aclaris Therapeutics from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.00.

About Aclaris Therapeutics

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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.