Arcutis Biotherapeutics Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:ARQT)

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQT) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 21,719 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 1,193% compared to the average volume of 1,680 call options.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Stock Up 9.5 %

ARQT opened at $14.86 on Wednesday. Arcutis Biotherapeutics has a 52 week low of $2.28 and a 52 week high of $15.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $10.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of -8.30 and a beta of 1.32.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.09. Arcutis Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 119.11% and a negative net margin of 140.97%. The firm had revenue of $44.76 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.05 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Arcutis Biotherapeutics will post -1.34 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Howard G. Welgus sold 10,000 shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.26, for a total transaction of $92,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 181,944 shares in the company, valued at $1,684,801.44. This trade represents a 5.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO David Joseph Topper sold 11,626 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.48, for a total transaction of $110,214.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 158,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,501,385.52. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,951 shares of company stock worth $770,144 in the last quarter. 9.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arcutis Biotherapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Arcutis Biotherapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 6,740.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 4,044 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the second quarter valued at $97,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Arcutis Biotherapeutics during the third quarter worth about $104,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 9.9% in 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ARQT shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company.

About Arcutis Biotherapeutics

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.