Vical (NASDAQ:VICL) was downgraded by equities researchers at Credit Suisse from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, TheFlyOnTheWall.com reports. They currently have a $2.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $5.00. Credit Suisse’s target price points to a potential upside of 30.72% from the company’s current price.
The analysts wrote, “VICL announced that Allovectin (Phase III, melanoma) missed both its primary endpoint (response) and secondary endpoint (survival). The program has been terminated and we are removing it from our model accordingly. We have added royalties from ASP0113 (Phase III, cytomegalovirus vaccine), which has been licensed to Astellas, and we have cut operating expense forecasts. Our target price goes from $5 to $2, and our rating from Outperform to Neutral. We have added ASP0113 to the model. We forecast a 2017 launch and $304M in 2025 net sales across both the HCT and SOT indications, in both the US and EU, putting us on the lower-end of the $300-$500M range outlined by the company. From this, we model 15% annual royalties from Astellas to VICL. With Astellas funding the entirety of the ASP0113 program and with Allovectin winding down, we have cut our forecasts for VICL’s R&D, SG&A and manufacturing expenses.”
A number of other firms have also recently commented on VICL. Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Vical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note to investors on Monday. Separately, analysts at Canaccord Genuity downgraded shares of Vical from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note to investors on Monday. They now have a $1.40 price target on the stock, down previously from $7.00. Finally, analysts at Brinson Patrick reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Vical in a research note to investors on Monday, June 17th. They now have a $7.00 price target on the stock.
Vical (NASDAQ:VICL) traded up 4.48% on Tuesday, hitting $1.5986. Vical has a 1-year low of $1.37 and a 1-year high of $4.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $3.52. The company’s market cap is $138.6 million. Vical also was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Investors bought 5,849 put options on the stock, AnalystRatings.Net reports.This is an increase of approximately 233% compared to the average daily volume of 1,754 put options.
Vical (NASDAQ:VICL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the analysts’ consensus estimate of ($0.11). The company had revenue of $3.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Vical will post $-0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Vical Incorporated researches and develops biopharmaceutical products based on its deoxyribonucleic acid (NASDAQ:VICL) delivery technologies for the prevention and treatment of serious or life-threatening diseases.
