Barclays Upgrades Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS) to Strong-Buy

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS) was upgraded by analysts at Barclays to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on TARS. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Tarsus Pharmaceuticals from $88.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Tarsus Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.00.

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ TARS opened at $79.03 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 3.20 and a quick ratio of 3.17. Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $51.57 and a 1-year high of $91.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -72.50 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $69.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.73.

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19) by ($0.24). Tarsus Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 13.53% and a negative net margin of 7.67%.The business had revenue of $173.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $169.65 million. Equities analysts predict that Tarsus Pharmaceuticals will post -2.4 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William J. Phd Link sold 12,500 shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.38, for a total transaction of $979,750.00. Following the sale, the director owned 94,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,405,891.06. The trade was a 11.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Bobak R. Azamian sold 10,000 shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.56, for a total transaction of $905,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 827,991 shares in the company, valued at $74,982,864.96. This trade represents a 1.19% 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. Insiders have sold 48,031 shares of company stock worth $4,004,227 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its position in shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals by 66.5% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 4,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Tarsus Pharmaceuticals by 22.7% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 295,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,619,000 after purchasing an additional 54,791 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Tarsus Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $106,000. Pale Fire Capital SE grew its stake in Tarsus Pharmaceuticals by 73.4% during the 2nd quarter. Pale Fire Capital SE now owns 9,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 4,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Tarsus Pharmaceuticals by 295.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 38,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,429,000 after purchasing an additional 28,447 shares during the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a commercial-stage ophthalmic pharmaceutical company focused on developing and marketing treatments for eye conditions with significant unmet medical needs. The company’s lead product is XDEMVY (lotilaner ophthalmic solution) 0.25%, a prescription eye drop approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2023 for the treatment of Demodex blepharitis, a common eyelid disorder associated with an infestation of Demodex mites.

XDEMVY is designed to target and eliminate Demodex mites, addressing an underlying cause of the disease rather than only managing its symptoms.