Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ARCT) Trading 13.7% Higher - Here's Why

Key Points

• Arcturus Therapeutics shares rose 13.7% to approximately $17.73 in mid-day trading, although volume was about 30% below the average session level.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans positive: the stock has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $23, including Roth Capital’s $41 target.
• The company beat quarterly EPS expectations with a loss of $0.84 per share versus the expected $1.00 loss, but revenue slightly missed estimates and the business remains unprofitable with a negative net margin.

Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:ARCT - Get Free Report) rose 13.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $17.78 and last traded at $17.7340. 423,802 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 604,122 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARCT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Arcturus Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.00.

Arcturus Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $10.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.49. The company has a market cap of $495.84 million, a P/E ratio of -5.28 and a beta of 2.48.

Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ARCT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.84) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.00) by $0.16. The business had revenue of $2.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 million. Arcturus Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 46.54% and a negative net margin of 317.62%. As a group, analysts forecast that Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. will post -3.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Arcturus Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Arcturus Therapeutics by 264.8% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 50,253 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 36,479 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in Arcturus Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $117,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Arcturus Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $80,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Arcturus Therapeutics by 7.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 56,895 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 4,070 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Arcturus Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $229,000. 94.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Arcturus Therapeutics Company Profile

Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc is a biotechnology company 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 acid medicines into targeted cells, and STARR, a self-amplifying mRNA technology intended to produce therapeutic proteins from relatively small doses of RNA.

Arcturus is developing RNA-based candidates for rare diseases, infectious diseases, and other conditions.

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