HC Wainwright Upgrades Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) to “Buy”

Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) was upgraded by equities researchers at HC Wainwright from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $20.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on ACRS. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Leerink Partners raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised 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 report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $3.00 to $13.00 in a report on Monday, November 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aclaris Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.00.

Aclaris Therapeutics Price Performance

ACRS stock opened at $2.90 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.75. The stock has a market cap of $207.15 million, a PE ratio of -5.58 and a beta of 0.44. Aclaris Therapeutics has a one year low of $0.86 and a one year high of $5.17.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Anand Mehra bought 666,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were bought 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 owns 710,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,597,567.50. This represents a 1,537.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aclaris Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ACRS. Trium Capital LLP increased its position in Aclaris Therapeutics by 1.1% during the third quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 1,912,990 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after acquiring an additional 20,940 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Aclaris Therapeutics by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,336,850 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $3,671,000 after purchasing an additional 63,358 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $974,000 after purchasing an additional 72,309 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $119,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in Aclaris Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $214,000. 98.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.