Short Interest in Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS) Decreases By 13.9%

Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS) saw a large drop in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,860,000 shares, a drop of 13.9% from the July 15th total of 2,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 881,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Insider Activity

In other Aclaris Therapeutics news, major shareholder Braden Michael Leonard acquired 528,621 shares of Aclaris Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $1.15 per share, with a total value of $607,914.15. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 11,007,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,658,204.10. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 2,609,123 shares of company stock worth $2,976,646. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Aclaris Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 128.8% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 30,268 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 17,040 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 256.7% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 193,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 138,900 shares in the last quarter. BML Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Aclaris Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $686,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 115.5% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 43,784 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 23,467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monaco Asset Management SAM bought a new position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $1,028,000. Institutional investors own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ACRS. StockNews.com upgraded Aclaris Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Aclaris Therapeutics in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.25.

Aclaris Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ACRS opened at $1.19 on Monday. Aclaris Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $0.59 and a 1 year high of $8.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.81 million, a P/E ratio of -1.09 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $1.21.

Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by $0.04. Aclaris Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 248.28% and a negative return on equity of 61.03%. The business had revenue of $2.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Aclaris Therapeutics will post -0.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.