Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:ARCT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:ARCT - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,820,000 shares, an increase of 8.6% from the December 15th total of 4,440,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 400,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 12.0 days. Currently, 19.6% of the company's stock are short sold.

Arcturus Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of ARCT traded down $0.22 on Monday, hitting $16.79. 225,175 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 370,806. The company has a market capitalization of $454.84 million, a PE ratio of -7.56 and a beta of 2.63. Arcturus Therapeutics has a one year low of $14.30 and a one year high of $45.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.83.

Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ARCT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.70) by $0.44. Arcturus Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 22.39% and a negative net margin of 36.39%. The company had revenue of $41.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.61) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Arcturus Therapeutics will post -2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on ARCT. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in a report on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in a report on Monday, December 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $66.75.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arcturus Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Arcturus Therapeutics by 54.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 103,936 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,412,000 after acquiring an additional 36,714 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Arcturus Therapeutics by 45.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,275,715 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $52,819,000 after buying an additional 712,650 shares in the last quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $3,498,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $596,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arcturus Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $718,000. 94.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Arcturus Therapeutics

Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc, a late-stage clinical messenger RNA medicines and vaccine company, focuses on the development of infectious disease vaccines and other products within liver and respiratory rare diseases. Its technology platforms include LUNAR lipid-mediated delivery and STARR mRNA.