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

Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARQT) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 21,719 call options on the company. This is an increase of 1,193% compared to the average daily volume of 1,680 call options.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics Price Performance

ARQT stock traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $14.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,278,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,122,863. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of -8.14 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $10.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.83. Arcutis Biotherapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $2.28 and a fifty-two week high of $15.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:ARQT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.42) by $0.09. Arcutis Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 140.97% and a negative return on equity of 119.11%. The firm had revenue of $44.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.05 million. Equities research analysts expect that Arcutis Biotherapeutics will post -1.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Arcutis Biotherapeutics news, Director Terrie Curran sold 8,687 shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.85, for a total value of $94,253.95. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,008.15. The trade was a 46.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO David Joseph Topper sold 11,626 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.48, for a total value of $110,214.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 158,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,501,385.52. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,951 shares of company stock valued at $770,144. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Arcutis Biotherapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 11,663,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,471,000 after purchasing an additional 91,803 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its position in Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 11.7% during the 3rd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 10,966,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150,000 shares during the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its position in Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 10,721,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,710,000 after acquiring an additional 717,019 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 9.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,641,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,467,000 after purchasing an additional 506,788 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Arcutis Biotherapeutics by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,470,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,977,000 after buying an additional 48,868 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ARQT. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Arcutis Biotherapeutics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company.

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.