Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) Stock Jumps 7% – Should You Buy?

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQT)’s share price rose 7% during mid-day trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as $25.86 and last traded at $26.2010. 369,853 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 1,785,016 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ARQT shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim upped their target price on Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Arcutis Biotherapeutics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.00.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.91 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 2.92 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $25.34 and a 200 day moving average of $24.61.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.05. Arcutis Biotherapeutics had a return on equity of 15.05% and a net margin of 6.15%.The company had revenue of $129.86 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.85 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post 0.42 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Masaru Matsuda sold 9,989 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.03, for a total value of $250,024.67. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 116,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,908,035.46. This represents a 7.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Todd Watanabe sold 4,375 shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.12, for a total transaction of $114,275.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 717,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,733,342.36. The trade was a 0.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 a total of 79,225 shares of company stock worth $2,015,966 over the last ninety days. 9.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARQT. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 32.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,221,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,334,000 after acquiring an additional 547,835 shares during the period. Tejara Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,965,000. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lifted its stake in Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 55.1% during the first quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 175,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,143,000 after purchasing an additional 62,485 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $26,136,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 97.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 206,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,857,000 after buying an additional 101,855 shares in the last quarter.

About Arcutis Biotherapeutics

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: ARQT) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing treatments for dermatologic conditions. The company concentrates on medical dermatology, with an emphasis on addressing diseases that can significantly affect patients’ quality of life and for which additional treatment options are needed.

Arcutis’s primary commercial product is ZORYVE (roflumilast), a topical phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor available in multiple formulations.