AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU) Shares Up 5.2% - What's Next?

Key Points

• AC Immune's stock rose by 5.2%, reaching a last trade price of $2.81, while trading volume decreased by 57% from its average.
• Analyst ratings are mixed, with one firm maintaining a "buy" rating at an $8.00 target, while others have rated it a "sell" and a "hold," resulting in an average consensus rating of "hold."
• The company reported a loss of ($0.25) per share in its latest quarterly earnings, below the expected loss of ($0.20), with revenues falling short of estimates as well.

Shares of AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU - Get Free Report) shot up 5.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $2.92 and last traded at $2.81. 158,757 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 365,305 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ACIU. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of AC Immune in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of AC Immune in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded AC Immune from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AC Immune presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.00.

AC Immune Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $282.15 million, a PE ratio of -4.84 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $2.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.14.

AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.05). AC Immune had a negative net margin of 174.94% and a negative return on equity of 49.35%. The company had revenue of $1.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.98 million. On average, equities analysts predict that AC Immune will post -0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of AC Immune

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new stake in AC Immune during the 2nd quarter valued at $51,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in AC Immune in the 1st quarter valued at $50,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in AC Immune in the 3rd quarter valued at $549,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in AC Immune by 87.1% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 371,177 shares of the company's stock valued at $679,000 after acquiring an additional 172,796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BVF Inc. IL grew its position in AC Immune by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. BVF Inc. IL now owns 19,822,436 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,068,000 after acquiring an additional 300,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.36% of the company's stock.

AC Immune Company Profile

AC Immune SA, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, designs, and develops medicines and diagnostic products for the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases associated with protein misfolding. Its SupraAntigen and Morphomer platforms are designed to generate vaccines, antibodies, and small molecules, which selectively interact with misfolded proteins that are common in a range of neurodegenerative diseases.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.