Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $7.00 target price on the biotechnology company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $2.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $3.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Monday. BTIG Research upgraded Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Aclaris Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Aclaris Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $8.80.

Aclaris Therapeutics Trading Up 9.1 %

ACRS opened at $4.32 on Tuesday. Aclaris Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.77 and a 1-year high of $5.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $308.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.71 and a beta of 0.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1.65 and a 200-day moving average of $1.36.

Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $4.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.31 million. Aclaris Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 136.65% and a negative return on equity of 40.26%. Equities analysts predict that Aclaris Therapeutics will post -0.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Anand Mehra purchased 666,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $2.25 per share, for a total transaction of $1,499,998.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 710,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,597,567.50. The trade was a 1,537.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aclaris Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Aclaris Therapeutics by 69.5% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 32,843 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 13,461 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Aclaris Therapeutics by 5,265.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 62,772 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $78,000 after buying an additional 61,602 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Aclaris Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $119,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in Aclaris Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in Aclaris Therapeutics by 10.9% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 241,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 23,747 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

About Aclaris Therapeutics

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.