Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS) Short Interest Update

Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,560,000 shares, an increase of 12.7% from the December 15th total of 3,160,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,410,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days.

Aclaris Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of ACRS stock opened at $2.57 on Friday. Aclaris Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.95 and a 1-year high of $5.17. The firm has a market cap of $183.58 million, a PE ratio of -4.94 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day moving average of $3.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.93.

Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $4.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.31 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aclaris Therapeutics will post -0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Anand Mehra bought 666,666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $2.25 per share, for a total transaction of $1,499,998.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 710,030 shares in the company, valued at $1,597,567.50. The trade was a 1,537.37 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aclaris Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ACRS. Stonepine Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at about $2,120,000. BML Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 9.7% during 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. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $1,053,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 216,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 113.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 397,362 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $985,000 after acquiring an additional 211,585 shares during the last quarter. 98.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ACRS. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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, November 19th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $3.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $11.00.

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.