AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU) Shares Down 1.3% – Time to Sell?

AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU) shares traded down 1.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $2.20 and last traded at $2.27. Approximately 245,506 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 4% from the average daily volume of 255,854 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ACIU. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AC Immune from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of AC Immune in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AC Immune in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.50.

AC Immune Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $2.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.87. The stock has a market cap of $231.02 million, a PE ratio of -2.77 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 0.87.

AC Immune (NASDAQ:ACIU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.33 million. AC Immune had a negative return on equity of 125.26% and a negative net margin of 1,788.02%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AC Immune will post -0.84 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at AC Immune

In related news, CEO Andrea Pfeifer sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.79, for a total transaction of $27,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,820,288 shares in the company, valued at $10,658,603.52. This represents a 0.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 4.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AC Immune

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AC Immune by 46.9% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 18,555 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 5,920 shares in the last quarter. EFG International AG purchased a new position in AC Immune in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in AC Immune in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Susquehanna International Group LLP bought a new position in AC Immune during the 3rd quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. purchased a new stake in shares of AC Immune during the 2nd quarter valued at about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.36% of the company’s stock.

About AC Immune

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.