Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS) Short Interest Up 27.4% in December

Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,160,000 shares, a growth of 27.4% from the November 30th total of 2,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,330,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ACRS. StockNews.com raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. HC Wainwright upgraded Aclaris Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $20.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Leerink Partners raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $2.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler raised Aclaris Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $3.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $11.00.

Insider Activity at Aclaris Therapeutics

In related news, Director Anand Mehra bought 666,666 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were purchased 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,597,567.50. This represents a 1,537.37 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ACRS. BML Capital Management LLC lifted 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 worth $16,388,000 after acquiring an additional 1,261,866 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Aclaris Therapeutics by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,336,850 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $3,671,000 after purchasing an additional 63,358 shares in the last quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Aclaris Therapeutics by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC now owns 2,458,873 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,828,000 after buying an additional 531,427 shares in the last quarter. Trium Capital LLP grew its holdings in Aclaris Therapeutics by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Trium Capital LLP now owns 1,912,990 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $2,200,000 after buying an additional 20,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $1,053,000. 98.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Aclaris Therapeutics Stock Down 6.2 %

NASDAQ:ACRS traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $2.73. 550,799 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,379,088. Aclaris Therapeutics has a one year low of $0.86 and a one year high of $5.17. The company has a market cap of $195.01 million, a PE ratio of -5.25 and a beta of 0.45. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $2.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.80.

Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $4.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.31 million. Aclaris Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 40.26% and a negative net margin of 136.65%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Aclaris Therapeutics will post -0.75 EPS for the current year.

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.