Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQT) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,970,000 shares, a decrease of 9.3% from the December 31st total of 23,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,050,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ARQT. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $16.60.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Stock Performance

ARQT stock traded up $0.41 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $13.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,872,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,927,485. The company has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.32 and a beta of 1.29. Arcutis Biotherapeutics has a twelve month low of $5.38 and a twelve month high of $16.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.46. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.07.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $44.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.05 million. Arcutis Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 140.97% and a negative return on equity of 119.11%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Arcutis Biotherapeutics will post -1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Arcutis Biotherapeutics news, Director Howard G. Welgus sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.67, for a total transaction of $146,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 151,944 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,018.48. This trade represents a 6.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Todd Franklin Watanabe sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.17, for a total value of $227,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 823,430 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,491,433.10. This represents a 1.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 63,276 shares of company stock valued at $797,936. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arcutis Biotherapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARQT. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Arcutis Biotherapeutics during the second quarter worth $97,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $104,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,843 shares of the company's stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Company Profile

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing treatments for dermatological diseases. Its lead product candidate is ARQ-151, a topical roflumilast cream that has completed Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of plaque psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.