AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU) Upgraded to "Strong-Buy" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded AC Immune to “strong buy” from “hold,” while analysts overall maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $7.50 target price.
• AC Immune shares opened at $2.62, up 0.8%, with a market capitalization of approximately $266.6 million. The stock has traded between $2.10 and $4.00 over the past year.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.03 in EPS versus estimates of a $0.10 loss and revenue of $18.67 million versus the $9.59 million consensus; institutional investors own 51.36% of the stock.

AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AC Immune in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of AC Immune in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of AC Immune in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $7.50.

AC Immune Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of AC Immune stock opened at $2.62 on Tuesday. AC Immune has a one year low of $2.10 and a one year high of $4.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock's 50-day moving average is $2.59 and its 200 day moving average is $2.67. The firm has a market cap of $266.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.85 and a beta of 1.60.

AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.13. AC Immune had a negative return on equity of 100.17% and a negative net margin of 245.32%.The business had revenue of $18.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.59 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that AC Immune will post -0.6 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of AC Immune

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACIU. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in AC Immune by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 405,658 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,116,000 after buying an additional 30,035 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of AC Immune by 82.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 390,165 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,071,000 after buying an additional 176,701 shares during the period. Finally, AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of AC Immune in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.36% of the company's stock.

AC Immune Company Profile

AC Immune SA NASDAQ: ACIU is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. Founded in 2003, the company develops precision medicines and diagnostic products designed to prevent, diagnose and treat neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and other conditions associated with misfolded proteins.

AC Immune's research is based on its SupraAntigen and Morphomer technology platforms, which are intended to identify disease-related proteins and generate therapies or diagnostic tools that target them.

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