BTIG Research Reaffirms "Buy" Rating for AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU)

Key Points

• BTIG Research reaffirmed its “Buy” rating on AC Immune and set an $8.00 price target, implying 246.62% upside from the stock’s prior close. MarketBeat’s consensus rating remains “Hold,” with an average target price of $7.50.
• AC Immune shares traded at $2.31, near the lower end of their 52-week range of $2.03 to $4.00. The company’s latest quarterly results missed expectations, reporting $0.03 EPS versus $0.12 expected and revenue of $18.67 million versus $34.08 million estimated.
• Institutional investors own 51.36% of AC Immune, while insiders own 4.60%; CEO Andrea Pfeifer recently sold 10,000 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by BTIG Research in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $8.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research's target price would suggest a potential upside of 246.62% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on ACIU. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of AC Immune in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings cut AC Immune from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (e+)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, AC Immune has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $7.50.

AC Immune Stock Performance

ACIU stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $2.31. 124,874 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 291,611. AC Immune has a one year low of $2.03 and a one year high of $4.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.81 and a beta of 1.59. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $2.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.09). AC Immune had a negative return on equity of 125.26% and a negative net margin of 1,788.02%.The company had revenue of $18.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.08 million. Equities research analysts forecast that AC Immune will post -0.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Andrea Pfeifer sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.79, for a total value of $27,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,820,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,658,603.52. This trade represents a 0.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 4.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AC Immune

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EFG International AG bought a new position in AC Immune in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of AC Immune in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in shares of AC Immune during the 2nd quarter worth $51,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of AC Immune by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 18,555 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 5,920 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna International Group LLP acquired a new stake in AC Immune in the third quarter valued at about $63,000. Institutional investors own 51.36% of the company's stock.

AC Immune Company Profile

AC Immune AG is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, with a subsidiary in Boston, Massachusetts. The company specializes in the discovery and development of therapeutics and diagnostics for neurodegenerative diseases, with a primary focus on Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other protein misfolding disorders. AC Immune leverages proprietary platform technologies to identify and optimize candidates that target pathological protein aggregates.

Since its founding in 2003, AC Immune has advanced multiple programs into clinical development.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source