Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) Trading 7% Higher – Should You Buy?

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQT)’s stock price traded up 7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $14.95 and last traded at $14.91. 322,067 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 3,100,606 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ARQT. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a report on Thursday, November 7th. HC Wainwright started coverage on Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a report on Monday, December 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $19.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Arcutis Biotherapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.20.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.17 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.44.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) last issued its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $44.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.05 million. Arcutis Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 119.11% and a negative net margin of 140.97%. As a group, research analysts expect that Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Howard G. Welgus sold 10,000 shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.51, for a total transaction of $125,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 161,944 shares in the company, valued at $2,025,919.44. This trade represents a 5.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Todd Franklin Watanabe sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.17, for a total transaction of $227,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 823,430 shares in the company, valued at $12,491,433.10. This represents a 1.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,291 shares of company stock worth $781,266. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arcutis Biotherapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARQT. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in Arcutis Biotherapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $97,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $104,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 9.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning bought a new position in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $127,000.

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.