Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on ARQT. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Stock Performance

ARQT traded down $1.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $27.74. 1,572,129 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,740,885. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -924.36 and a beta of 1.48. Arcutis Biotherapeutics has a 1-year low of $13.69 and a 1-year high of $31.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.46, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $105.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $103.67 million. Arcutis Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 0.57% and a negative return on equity of 1.41%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Arcutis Biotherapeutics will post 0.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Arcutis Biotherapeutics news, insider Todd Watanabe sold 3,172 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.61, for a total transaction of $74,890.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 720,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,017,025.55. This trade represents a 0.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Masaru Matsuda sold 8,256 shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.31, for a total value of $192,447.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 126,689 shares in the company, valued at $2,953,120.59. This trade represents a 6.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 30,931 shares of company stock worth $730,086 over the last quarter. 9.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arcutis Biotherapeutics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,140,000. UBS Group AG raised its position in Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,243,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,189,000 after acquiring an additional 294,994 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new stake in Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $5,850,000. Ally Bridge Group NY LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $4,396,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $1,319,000.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Company Profile

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.