Anand Mehra Acquires 666,666 Shares of Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS) Stock

Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS) Director Anand Mehra acquired 666,666 shares of Aclaris Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $2.25 per share, for a total transaction of $1,499,998.50. Following the purchase, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Aclaris Therapeutics Trading Down 14.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ ACRS traded down $0.65 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $3.94. The company had a trading volume of 5,530,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,399,274. Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $0.77 and a 1-year high of $5.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.34. The stock has a market cap of $281.43 million, a PE ratio of -7.23 and a beta of 0.10.

Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) last announced 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 company 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.65 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ACRS shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Aclaris Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $3.00 to $13.00 in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $2.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Leerink Partners raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $2.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Aclaris Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BML Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 period. Stonepine Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Aclaris Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,120,000. Trium Capital LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,081,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 61,602 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Aclaris Therapeutics by 10.9% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 241,101 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 23,747 shares during the last quarter. 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.