Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) Rating Increased to Outperform at Leerink Partners

Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $7.00 price objective on the biotechnology company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $2.00.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ACRS. Piper Sandler raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $3.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Aclaris Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $2.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Aclaris Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.80.

Aclaris Therapeutics Trading Down 12.0 %

ACRS opened at $3.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $271.44 million, a P/E ratio of -7.31 and a beta of 0.10. Aclaris Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $0.77 and a 12 month high of $5.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $1.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.39.

Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.03). Aclaris Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 40.26% and a negative net margin of 136.65%. The business had revenue of $4.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.31 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Aclaris Therapeutics will post -0.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aclaris Therapeutics

In related news, Director Anand Mehra bought 666,666 shares of Aclaris Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the director now owns 710,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,597,567.50. This represents a 1,537.37 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stonepine Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,120,000. Trium Capital LLP bought a new stake in Aclaris Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,081,000. BML Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Aclaris Therapeutics by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. BML Capital Management LLC now owns 14,250,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $16,388,000 after buying an additional 1,261,866 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in Aclaris Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $1,053,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Aclaris Therapeutics by 187.6% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 332,406 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $382,000 after acquiring an additional 216,826 shares during the period. 98.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.