Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ARCT) Trading Down 3.3%

Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:ARCT - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 3.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $31.67 and last traded at $31.67. Approximately 127,929 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 438,765 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ARCT shares. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics from $40.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Arcturus Therapeutics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.33.

Arcturus Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $823.75 million, a P/E ratio of -29.42 and a beta of 2.60. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $36.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.48.

Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ARCT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.69) by $1.37. The company had revenue of $33.99 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.14 million. Arcturus Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 15.65% and a negative return on equity of 18.22%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. will post -1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Pad Chivukula sold 8,565 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.01, for a total transaction of $299,860.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 490,883 shares in the company, valued at $17,185,813.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 13.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arcturus Therapeutics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Arcturus Therapeutics by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,761,900 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $101,421,000 after buying an additional 66,971 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Arcturus Therapeutics by 56.5% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,217,957 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $86,756,000 after buying an additional 1,161,883 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Arcturus Therapeutics by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 2,047,687 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $64,564,000 after purchasing an additional 146,141 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arcturus Therapeutics by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,992,235 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $57,137,000 after purchasing an additional 195,918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Arcturus Therapeutics by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,458,380 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $45,983,000 after purchasing an additional 51,537 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.54% of the company's stock.

About Arcturus Therapeutics

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.