Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) Stock Price Up 8.7% – What’s Next?

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQT) shares were up 8.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $22.97 and last traded at $23.1760. Approximately 405,278 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 1,405,620 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ARQT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arcutis Biotherapeutics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $34.00.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Trading Up 9.8%

The company has a fifty day moving average of $25.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.92. The company has a quick ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 3.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -167.21 and a beta of 1.66.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $129.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.79 million. Arcutis Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 4.29% and a negative return on equity of 10.26%. On average, research analysts expect that Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -1.33 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Patrick Burnett sold 6,287 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.18, for a total value of $158,306.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 121,150 shares in the company, valued at $3,050,557. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Masaru Matsuda sold 8,733 shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.30, for a total value of $220,944.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 136,932 shares in the company, valued at $3,464,379.60. This represents a 6.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 163,733 shares of company stock valued at $4,204,675. Corporate insiders own 9.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arcutis Biotherapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARQT. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 21.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 248,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,882,000 after acquiring an additional 43,716 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 71,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,063 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 19,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,477 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 548,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,694,000 after purchasing an additional 5,407 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 111,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,565,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares in the last quarter.

About Arcutis Biotherapeutics

Arcutis Biotherapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies for immuno-inflammatory skin diseases. The company’s research and development efforts center on targeted treatments that address the underlying biology of conditions such as plaque psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis and vitiligo. Arcutis employs a precision-medicine approach to deliver topical therapies designed to improve efficacy and tolerability compared with existing treatment options.

In August 2022, Arcutis received U.S.