Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ARCT) Shares Gap Up to $27.21

Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:ARCT - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $27.21, but opened at $29.08. Arcturus Therapeutics shares last traded at $28.19, with a volume of 28,215 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ARCT shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Arcturus Therapeutics from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Arcturus Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.33.

Arcturus Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $721.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.08 and a beta of 2.65. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $31.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.10.

Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ARCT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.69) by $1.37. Arcturus Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 15.65% and a negative return on equity of 18.22%. The firm had revenue of $33.99 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.14 million. As a group, analysts predict that Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. will post -2.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Arcturus Therapeutics

In other Arcturus Therapeutics news, COO Pad Chivukula sold 17,435 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.02, for a total value of $610,573.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 473,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,580,148.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 13.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Arcturus Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blair William & Co. IL acquired a new position in Arcturus Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $478,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Arcturus Therapeutics by 224.1% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 114,810 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $3,620,000 after acquiring an additional 79,387 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in Arcturus Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $2,738,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Arcturus Therapeutics by 239.8% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 172,202 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 121,526 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new stake in Arcturus Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $301,000. 94.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Arcturus Therapeutics Company Profile

Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc, a late-stage clinical messenger RNA medicines and vaccine company, focuses on the development of infectious disease vaccines and other products within liver and respiratory rare diseases. Its technology platforms include LUNAR lipid-mediated delivery and STARR mRNA.