Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS) Stock Price Up 3.8% – Here’s What Happened

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:TARS) traded up 3.8% on Monday. The stock traded as high as $75.78 and last traded at $75.9610. 145,805 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 747,714 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.16.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TARS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Tarsus Pharmaceuticals from $88.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.86.

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.95 and its 200 day moving average is $67.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of -64.97 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 3.17 and a current ratio of 3.20.

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:TARS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $173.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $169.65 million. Tarsus Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 13.53% and a negative net margin of 7.67%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -4.25 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Bobak Azamian sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.56, for a total transaction of $905,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 827,991 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,982,864.96. This represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director William Link, PhD sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.38, for a total transaction of $979,750.00. Following the sale, the director owned 94,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,405,891.06. This trade represents a 11.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 48,031 shares of company stock valued at $4,004,227. Insiders own 9.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TARS. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $242,705,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $176,834,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals by 16.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,240,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,223,000 after acquiring an additional 310,638 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals by 13.5% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,280,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,806,000 after acquiring an additional 152,464 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Tarsus Pharmaceuticals by 57.5% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,194,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,786,000 after purchasing an additional 436,271 shares in the last quarter. 90.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for diseases and conditions affecting the eye. The company concentrates on areas of significant unmet need in ophthalmology and aims to address conditions that can affect ocular health, comfort and vision.

Tarsus’ primary product is XDEMVY (lotilaner ophthalmic solution) 0.25%, an eye drop approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2023 for the treatment of Demodex blepharitis.