Arcus Biosciences, Inc. (NYSE:RCUS) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate Arcus Biosciences “Moderate Buy”: Nine of 13 analysts recommend buying the stock, while three rate it a hold and one a sell. The average 12-month price target is $38.30, above the reported $24.23 share price.
• Quarterly results beat expectations but remain weak: Arcus reported a loss of $0.72 per share versus the $0.89 expected loss, and revenue of $41 million versus the $21.98 million consensus estimate. However, revenue fell 74.4% year over year and the company remained deeply unprofitable.
• Institutional ownership is substantial, while insiders have sold shares: Hedge funds and other institutions own 92.89% of Arcus, including a newly acquired $506.1 million BlackRock stake. Insiders sold 102,827 shares worth approximately $3.0 million over the past three months, primarily through pre-arranged trading plans.

Arcus Biosciences, Inc. (NYSE:RCUS - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.30.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $23.00 price target on Arcus Biosciences in a report on Monday, August 10th. Lifesci Capital began coverage on Arcus Biosciences in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Arcus Biosciences in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Arcus Biosciences from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on Arcus Biosciences from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th.

Arcus Biosciences Stock Up 0.7%

RCUS stock opened at $24.23 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.21 and a beta of 0.81. Arcus Biosciences has a 52 week low of $11.58 and a 52 week high of $31.74. The company's 50-day moving average price is $28.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.81. The company has a current ratio of 3.82, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Arcus Biosciences (NYSE:RCUS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.72) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.89) by $0.17. Arcus Biosciences had a negative net margin of 393.16% and a negative return on equity of 89.54%. The company had revenue of $41.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.98 million. Arcus Biosciences's revenue was down 74.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Arcus Biosciences will post -3.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Arcus Biosciences

In related news, CAO Alexander Azoy sold 2,827 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $84,810.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 39,581 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,187,430. This represents a 6.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, President Juan Jaen sold 20,067 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.62, for a total transaction of $574,317.54. Following the transaction, the president owned 822,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,532,508.80. This trade represents a 2.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 102,827 shares of company stock worth $2,994,141. 7.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of RCUS. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Arcus Biosciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $506,113,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Arcus Biosciences by 167.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,949,788 shares of the company's stock worth $46,463,000 after buying an additional 1,220,635 shares in the last quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arcus Biosciences in the second quarter worth $28,341,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of Arcus Biosciences in the second quarter worth $25,759,000. Finally, First Turn Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Arcus Biosciences in the fourth quarter worth $13,467,000. 92.89% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Arcus Biosciences

Arcus Biosciences, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing medicines for cancer and other serious diseases. The company combines antibody-based therapies, small-molecule drugs and combination treatment strategies designed to influence the immune system and other biological pathways involved in tumor growth.

Its oncology pipeline includes investigational therapies targeting pathways such as TIGIT, PD-1, CD73, adenosine receptors and HIF-2α. Key programs have included domvanalimab, an anti-TIGIT antibody; zimberelimab, an anti-PD-1 antibody; quemliclustat, a CD73 inhibitor; etrumadenant, an adenosine receptor antagonist; and AB521, an HIF-2α inhibitor.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.