Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ACRS – Get a rating) saw strong growth in short-term interest during the month of May. As of May 31, there was short interest totaling 3,520,000 shares, up 37.5% from the May 15 total of 2,560,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 466,300 shares, the short interest ratio is currently 7.5 days. Approximately 6.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

ACRS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on Aclaris Therapeutics shares in a Friday, Feb. 25 report. William Blair reiterated an “outperforming” rating on Aclaris Therapeutics shares in a Wednesday, May 11 report. To finish, StockNews.com kicked off coverage of Aclaris Therapeutics in a Thursday, March 31 report. They set a “sell” rating for the company. One equity research analyst rated the stock with a sell rating and six gave the stock a buy rating. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Aclaris Therapeutics currently has a consensus buy rating and a consensus target price of $36.00.

In related news, insider Joseph Monahan sold 30,000 shares of the company in a transaction on Monday, April 18. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.28, for a total value of $488,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 106,386 shares of the company, valued at approximately $1,731,964.08. The transaction was disclosed in an SEC filing, which is available via this link. Also, CEO neal walker sold 25,000 shares of the company in a trade on Thursday, April 21. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.24, for a total transaction of $381,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the CEO now owns 1,290,763 shares of the company, valued at approximately $19,671,228.12. Disclosure of this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 75,000 shares of the company valued at $1,173,000 during the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.20% of the company’s shares.

A number of hedge funds have recently changed their holdings in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Aclaris Therapeutics by 3.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,730,253 shares of the biotech company worth $98,789,000 after acquiring an additional 190,985 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Aclaris Therapeutics by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,078,875 shares of the biotech company worth $59,307,000 after acquiring 290,458 additional shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its equity stake in Aclaris Therapeutics by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,728,820 shares of the biotech company worth $47,045,000 after purchasing an additional 10,713 shares during the period. Commodore Capital LP increased its equity stake in Aclaris Therapeutics by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Commodore Capital LP now owns 2,672,346 shares of the biotech company worth $38,856,000 after purchasing an additional 482,055 shares during the period. Finally, RA Capital Management LP bought a new position in Aclaris Therapeutics stock during the first quarter worth approximately $31,339,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors hold 97.79% of the company’s shares.

Shares of NASDAQ:ACRS opened at $13.99 on Wednesday. Aclaris Therapeutics has a 52-week minimum of $9.26 and a 52-week maximum of $19.97. The company has a market capitalization of $931.48 million, a P/E ratio of -10.21 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.75.

Aclaris Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ACRS – Get a rating) last released its results on Tuesday, May 10. The biotech company reported ($0.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.41) by $0.10. Aclaris Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 1,256.80% and a negative return on equity of 39.08%. The company posted revenue of $1.45 million in the quarter, versus a consensus estimate of $1.67 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.2% from the same quarter last year. Equity research analysts expect Aclaris Therapeutics to post -1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

About Aclaris Therapeutics (Get a rating)

Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc operates a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company and develops novel drug candidates for immunoinflammatory diseases in the United States. It operates through two segments: Therapeutics and Contract Research. The Therapeutics segment is involved in the identification and development of innovative therapies to address significant unmet needs for immuno-inflammatory diseases.

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