Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQT) Short Interest Down 9.3% in December

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQT) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 20,970,000 shares, a drop of 9.3% from the December 15th total of 23,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,050,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 10.2 days.

Insider Activity at Arcutis Biotherapeutics

In other news, insider Masaru Matsuda sold 5,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.68, for a total value of $43,530.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 178,273 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,547,409.64. This represents a 2.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Franklin Watanabe sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.17, for a total transaction of $227,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 823,430 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,491,433.10. The trade was a 1.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,291 shares of company stock valued at $927,966. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arcutis Biotherapeutics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $97,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $104,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the third quarter worth $127,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ARQT. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.60.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ARQT opened at $12.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.08 and a beta of 1.30. Arcutis Biotherapeutics has a 1-year low of $3.11 and a 1-year high of $16.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.09. Arcutis Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 119.11% and a negative net margin of 140.97%. The company had revenue of $44.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.05 million. Research analysts anticipate that Arcutis Biotherapeutics will post -1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

About Arcutis Biotherapeutics

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing treatments for dermatological diseases. Its lead product candidate is ARQ-151, a topical roflumilast cream that has completed Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of plaque psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.