Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT)

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQT) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 12,112 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 670% compared to the average daily volume of 1,574 call options.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics stock opened at $8.49 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $982.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.90 and a beta of 1.18. Arcutis Biotherapeutics has a twelve month low of $1.76 and a twelve month high of $13.17. The company has a quick ratio of 9.61, a current ratio of 9.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.40 and its 200 day moving average is $9.21.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.42) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $30.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.00 million. Arcutis Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 204.35% and a negative return on equity of 197.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.16) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Arcutis Biotherapeutics will post -1.6 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARQT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.17.

Insider Activity at Arcutis Biotherapeutics

In related news, insider Patrick Burnett sold 23,000 shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.75, for a total value of $201,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 209,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,835,688.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Patrick Burnett sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.75, for a total transaction of $201,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 209,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,835,688.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Masaru Matsuda sold 5,220 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total transaction of $47,084.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 183,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,653,257.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 49,995 shares of company stock worth $456,127. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Arcutis Biotherapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARQT. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $79,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 769.1% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 521,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,684,000 after acquiring an additional 461,469 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc bought a new position in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $481,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 104.6% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 9,066,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,283,000 after acquiring an additional 4,633,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000.

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.