Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ARCT) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Arcturus Therapeutics to “strong buy” from “hold.” Overall analyst sentiment is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $22.29, though recommendations range from strong buy to sell.
• Arcturus shares opened at $10.73, down 3.1%, with a market capitalization of approximately $305 million. The biotechnology company remains unprofitable, reporting a quarterly loss of $0.84 per share and negative net margins.
• Institutional investors own 94.54% of the stock. BlackRock initiated a roughly $17.6 million position, while Sumitomo Mitsui Trust increased its holdings during the period.

Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ARCT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. BTIG Research cut their target price on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics from $13.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered Arcturus Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, October 4th. Finally, Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Arcturus Therapeutics presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $22.29.

Arcturus Therapeutics Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of Arcturus Therapeutics stock opened at $10.73 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $13.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.55. Arcturus Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $5.50 and a 52 week high of $17.96. The company has a market capitalization of $304.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.24 and a beta of 2.48.

Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ARCT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.84) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.00) by $0.16. Arcturus Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 46.54% and a negative net margin of 317.62%. The firm had revenue of $2.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.11 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Arcturus Therapeutics will post -3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Arcturus Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Arcturus Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $17,566,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Arcturus Therapeutics by 12.9% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,288,935 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $17,671,000 after purchasing an additional 262,347 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Arcturus Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,474,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Arcturus Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $540,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $394,000. 94.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Arcturus Therapeutics

Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc is a biotechnology company headquartered in San Diego, California, focused on developing medicines based on messenger RNA (mRNA) and other RNA technologies. The company's platform includes LUNAR, a lipid-mediated delivery system designed to transport nucleic acids into cells, as well as technologies for producing and administering mRNA and self-amplifying RNA.

The company's development programs address infectious diseases and rare genetic disorders. Arcturus has developed KOSTAIVE, a self-amplifying mRNA COVID-19 vaccine known as ARCT-154, in collaboration with CSL.

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