Candel Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CADL) Sets New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Candel Therapeutics (CADL) reached a new 52-week high of $7.99 on Tuesday, trading about 906,089 shares and last quoted at $7.7150.
• Director Paul B. Manning bought 550,458 shares at roughly $5.45 on Feb. 23, raising his holding to 2,763,527 shares and contributing to insiders owning about 16.6% of the company.
• Analyst views are mixed—six Buys, one Hold and two Sells produce an average MarketBeat rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $18—while the clinical-stage company has negative EPS and recently missed quarterly estimates (EPS -$0.54 vs. -$0.24 expected).

Candel Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CADL - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $7.99 and last traded at $7.7150, with a volume of 906089 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $7.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Candel Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Candel Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research downgraded Candel Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Candel Therapeutics from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Candel Therapeutics in a report on Monday, April 20th. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Candel Therapeutics has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $18.00.

Candel Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $559.42 million, a P/E ratio of -10.75 and a beta of -0.59. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $5.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.44. The company has a quick ratio of 13.49, a current ratio of 13.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

Candel Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CADL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported ($0.54) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.24) by ($0.30). As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Candel Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.94 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul B. Manning bought 550,458 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.45 per share, for a total transaction of $2,999,996.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,763,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,061,222.15. This represents a 24.87% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 16.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Candel Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Candel Therapeutics by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,007,112 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,236,000 after purchasing an additional 219,563 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Candel Therapeutics by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 977,512 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,524,000 after purchasing an additional 49,315 shares during the last quarter. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Candel Therapeutics by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. Halter Ferguson Financial Inc. now owns 904,051 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,430,000 after purchasing an additional 155,996 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Candel Therapeutics by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 792,218 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,476,000 after purchasing an additional 103,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Candel Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $697,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.93% of the company's stock.

About Candel Therapeutics

Candel Therapeutics NASDAQ: CADL is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focused on the development of next-generation oncolytic viral therapies designed to treat solid tumors. The company's lead candidate, CAN-2409, is a locally administered, gene-delivered viral therapy engineered to selectively replicate in cancer cells and induce immunogenic cell death. Candel leverages proprietary virus engineering platforms to enhance tumor-specific replication and stimulate anti-tumor immune responses, aiming to improve outcomes for patients with high unmet medical needs.

In addition to its lead program, Candel's pipeline includes CAN-3110, an oncolytic herpes simplex virus targeting recurrent high-grade glioma, and other novel viral constructs being explored for a variety of solid tumor indications.

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