Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $2.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $2.00 to $7.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. HC Wainwright raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.00.

Aclaris Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ACRS opened at $2.48 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $2.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.15 million, a PE ratio of -4.77 and a beta of 0.54. Aclaris Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.95 and a fifty-two week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.03). Aclaris Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 136.65% and a negative return on equity of 40.26%. The business had revenue of $4.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.31 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Aclaris Therapeutics will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Aclaris Therapeutics

In other news, Director Anand Mehra bought 666,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $2.25 per share, with a total value of $1,499,998.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 710,030 shares in the company, valued at $1,597,567.50. This represents a 1,537.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Aclaris Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $119,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $214,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 187.6% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 332,406 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 216,826 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 9.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 846,446 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 72,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peapod Lane Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Aclaris Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $1,003,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

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.