Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys 216,826 Shares of Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS) by 187.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 332,406 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 216,826 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Aclaris Therapeutics were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stonepine Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Aclaris Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,120,000. Trium Capital LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,081,000. BML Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,261,866 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Aclaris Therapeutics by 4.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,929,775 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $6,113,000 after purchasing an additional 207,418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Aclaris Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $214,000. Institutional investors own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ACRS. Leerink Partners upgraded Aclaris Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $2.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $3.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Leerink Partnrs raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $2.00 to $7.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aclaris Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.80.

Aclaris Therapeutics Stock Up 6.5 %

Shares of ACRS opened at $4.07 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $290.72 million, a PE ratio of -7.83 and a beta of 0.10. Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $0.80 and a 12-month high of $5.17. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.49.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Aclaris Therapeutics

In related news, Director Anand Mehra bought 666,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $2.25 per share, with a total value of $1,499,998.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 710,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,597,567.50. This represents a 1,537.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Aclaris Therapeutics 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.