Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Boosts Holdings in Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS) by 113.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 397,362 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 211,585 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Aclaris Therapeutics were worth $985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stonepine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Aclaris Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at $2,120,000. BML Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. BML Capital Management LLC now owns 14,250,000 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $16,388,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261,866 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $1,053,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics by 187.6% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 332,406 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 216,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Aclaris Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $119,000. Institutional investors own 98.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ACRS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $3.00 to $13.00 in a research note on Monday, November 18th. BTIG Research raised shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, HC Wainwright upgraded shares of Aclaris Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $20.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aclaris Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $11.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aclaris Therapeutics

In other Aclaris Therapeutics news, Director Anand Mehra bought 666,666 shares of Aclaris Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $2.25 per share, for a total transaction of $1,499,998.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 710,030 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,597,567.50. This trade represents a 1,537.37 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Aclaris Therapeutics Stock Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ ACRS opened at $2.51 on Friday. Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $0.95 and a 52 week high of $5.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.83 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a fifty day moving average of $3.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.97.

Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.03). Aclaris Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 40.26% and a negative net margin of 136.65%. The firm had revenue of $4.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.31 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.81 EPS for the current year.

About Aclaris Therapeutics

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.