Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:ARCT) Receives $71.40 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:ARCT) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $71.40.

Several research analysts have weighed in on ARCT shares. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Arcturus Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Arcturus Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 8th.

Arcturus Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCT opened at $19.09 on Friday. Arcturus Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $14.93 and a 12-month high of $45.00. The company has a market capitalization of $517.15 million, a PE ratio of -8.60 and a beta of 2.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $19.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.87.

Arcturus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ARCT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.70) by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $41.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.16 million. Arcturus Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 36.39% and a negative return on equity of 22.39%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.61) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Arcturus Therapeutics will post -2.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Arcturus Therapeutics

In related news, COO Pad Chivukula sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.76, for a total transaction of $249,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 435,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,037,533.84. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 15.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Arcturus Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Arcturus Therapeutics by 22.4% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,563,065 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,061,000 after acquiring an additional 286,546 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Arcturus Therapeutics by 45.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,275,715 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $52,819,000 after purchasing an additional 712,650 shares during the last quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. bought a new position in Arcturus Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,498,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Arcturus Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $596,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in Arcturus Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $718,000. 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.