Immunocore (NASDAQ:IMCR) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Immunocore (NASDAQ:IMCR) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Immunocore from $71.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered Immunocore from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Immunocore in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Mizuho set a $38.00 price objective on Immunocore in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Immunocore in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.30.

Immunocore Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of IMCR stock opened at $32.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -46.14 and a beta of 0.78. Immunocore has a 1 year low of $23.15 and a 1 year high of $40.71. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.32. The company has a current ratio of 6.00, a quick ratio of 5.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Immunocore (NASDAQ:IMCR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.60) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.28) by ($0.32). Immunocore had a negative net margin of 8.88% and a negative return on equity of 9.16%. The company had revenue of $104.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $145.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.47) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Immunocore will post -0.94 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Bahija Jallal sold 11,474 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total transaction of $371,183.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 12,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,296.05. This represents a 48.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David M. Berman sold 5,965 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total transaction of $192,967.75. Following the sale, the insider owned 5,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $189,538.65. The trade was a 50.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 19,137 shares of company stock worth $619,082 over the last ninety days. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IMCR. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Immunocore by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Immunocore by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in shares of Immunocore by 6.4% in the third quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 8,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Immunocore by 37.0% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd boosted its holdings in Immunocore by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 8,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. 84.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Immunocore

Immunocore plc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company focused on the development of novel immunotherapies that harness the body’s own T‐cell response to treat cancer and infectious diseases. The company’s proprietary ImmTAC (immune mobilising monoclonal T‐cell receptors against cancer) platform utilizes engineered, soluble T‐cell receptor (TCR) molecules designed to recognise intracellular peptide–HLA complexes. By redirecting and activating T cells against disease‐associated targets, Immunocore aims to address malignancies and persistent viral infections with high unmet medical need.

The company’s most advanced candidate, tebentafusp, is a bispecific ImmTAC molecule that targets gp100, a melanoma‐associated antigen, and has received regulatory approval for the treatment of metastatic uveal melanoma.