In afternoon trade, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on track to end the week with a solid gain. At the time of writing, the benchmark index is up 0.6% to 7,433.4 points.

Four ASX shares that are climbing more than most today are listed below. Here’s why they are storming higher:

AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP)

The AMP share price has jumped 7% to $1.01. Investors have been buying this financial services company’s shares after it announced a divestment from its private markets business, PrivateMarketsCo. AMP has entered into a binding agreement to sell its infrastructure debt platform to Ares Holdings for a total cash consideration of $428 million. The agreement follows PrivateMarketsCo’s strategic decision to focus on managing equity investments in real estate and infrastructure.

Hipages Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: HPG)

The Hipages share price has surged 7% higher to $3.88. This is despite there being no news out of the tradie marketplace provider. However, it is worth noting that earlier this month Goldman Sachs reiterated its buy rating and lifted its price target on the company’s shares to $5.15.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS)

The Pilbara Minerals share price is up 5% to $2.95. Investors have been buying this lithium miner’s shares over the last few trading sessions following a bullish broker note out of Macquarie. That note reveals that the broker is expecting lithium prices to remain at record levels for the next four years. In response, Macquarie has retained its outperform rating and lifted its price target to $3.70.

Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB)

The Webjet share price is up 2.5% to $5.33. This appears to have been driven by news that Australians will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 booster shot four months after their second vaccine from January 4. This waiting period will be narrowed to just three months at the end of January. This could be a boost to travel markets if it helps control the latest outbreak.

The post Why AMP, Hipages, Pilbara Minerals, and Webjet shares are storming higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: AMP shoots higher, travel shares rise
• Here’s why the AMP (ASX:AMP) share price is racing 6% higher today
• Christmas is a bumper time for travel, so why is the Webjet (ASX:WEB) share price still struggling in December?
• These 3 ASX 200 shares are topping the volume charts this Thursday
• What is the 2022 outlook for the Pilbara Minerals (ASX:PLS) share price?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Hipages Group Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Hipages Group Holdings Ltd. and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3styNuz

It’s the lead-up to Christmas, and many eyes are watching the Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price surge higher once more.

But it’s likely not the holiday spirit driving the company’s stock higher.

At the time of writing, Afterpay’s shares are trading for $86.9 apiece. That’s 1.76% higher than their previous close and 5% higher than they were at the end of last Friday’s session.

For context, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 0.56% right now.

So, what might be boosting the buy now, pay later (BNPL) giant’s shares this week? Let’s take a look.

What’s driving the Afterpay share price higher?

It’s been a good week for the Afterpay share price – and those of its peers have also been gaining.

Right now, the Zip Co Ltd (ASX: Z1P) share price is 5.7% higher than it was at the end of last week. That of Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) has also gained 7.5%.

Meanwhile, the Humm Group Ltd (ASX: HUM) share price is sporting a whopping 22% gain, spurred by a 22% surge on Monday.

The BNPL sector’s movements might be a simple correction following last Friday’s devastating blow.

This time last week, many ASX BNPL stocks were tumbling amid news the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau called on 5 of the sector’s largest participants to help investigate its concerns about the industry.

However, the Afterpay share price might be being spurred by international happenings this week.

The company’s future acquirer, Block Inc (NYSE: SQ) (formerly named Square), has seen its share price gain 5.9% since Monday’s close after starting the week with a 5.2% dip.

As Afterpay’s planned takeover is an all-scrip deal, the value of its acquisition is dependent on the Block share price. Therefore, they tend to move in unison.

However, despite this week’s uptick, the Afterpay share price is still firmly in the long-term red.

It has fallen 26% since the start of 2021. It’s also 19% lower than it was this time last month.

The post Why has the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price gained 5% this week? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why Afterpay, Bega, FAR, and WiseTech shares are falling
• Why is the Afterpay (ASX:APT) share price soaring 5% today?
• Why Afterpay, Lovisa, Liontown, and Pilbara Minerals shares are racing higher
• These 5 ASX shares grew revenue by more than 70% in the last year
• $4.5 million brawl over Afterpay (ASX:APT) options settled

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO, Block, Inc., and ZIPCOLTD FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns and has recommended AFTERPAY T FPO. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Humm Group Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3EnedhF

Shares in vascular catheter specialist Imricor Medical Systems Inc (ASX: IMR) are lifting on Friday and now trade 6% higher at $1.05.

Investors are driving up the price of Imricor shares following a company announcement advising it has added another 2 institutions to the list of sites adopting its iCMR ablation solutions.

Imricor’s lead product, the Vision-MR Ablation Catheter, is specifically designed to work under real-time MRI guidance, with the intent of enabling higher success rates along with a faster and safer treatment compared to conventional procedures.

It touts itself to be a leading innovator in the space, and with that in mind, let’s take a look at what the company released today.

What did Imricor announce today?

The company announced that the German Heart Centre Berlin and the Charité Medical University Virchow-Klinikum campus, both in Berlin Germany, are the latest two institutions to adopt Imricor’s iCMR ablation solutions.

Imricor says these new customers bring the total of Imricor sites to 13. The company has since signed an Equipment Purchase Agreement (EPA) with the German Heart Centre Berlin to outfit an existing CMR facility for iCMR procedures. Both institutions will then utilise the iCMR lab at the Heart Centre.

Both new customers will separately purchase Imricor’s catheters and other consumables via a purchasing organisation called Sana Einkauf & Logistik Group Purchasing Organisation.

Imricor has already executed a Master Purchasing Agreement with Sana in April 2020, establishing pricing for the company’s consumable products and making them available in the Sana catalogue for hospitals who purchase devices via this route.

The terms of this particular agreement sets pricing for the one-time purchase of capital equipment needed to outfit an iCMR lab at the German Heart Centre Berlin.

Imricor says the collaboration is significant as it is a “key strategic goal of Imricor to grow the number of sites performing realtime iCMR cardiac ablation procedures in Europe”. Planning is underway for
procedures to commence in the first half of 2022, per the release.

Management commentary

Speaking on the announcement, Imricor’s Chair and CEO, Steve Wedan said:

The addition of these two world-renowned institutions is a major step forward for Imricor, and we are very excited to add them to our customer base. These sites have well-established facilities and programs like the MRI Core Lab and the CMR-Academy and we look forward to growing and deepening our relationships and collaborations with them in the coming months and years.

The Imricor share price has slipped almost 53% in the last 12 months after sliding another 53% this year to date.

In the past month, it has also plunged over 22%. Thus, any gains from today are a welcomed reprieve for shareholders.

The post Imricor Medical (ASX:IMR) share price spikes 6% after expanding trial sites appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Could 2022 be a good year for the Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price?
• Sonic (ASX:SHL) share price hits 52-week high amid COVID booster change
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: AMP shoots higher, travel shares rise
• What’s going on with the Inoviq (ASX:IIQ) share price today?
• Universal Biosensors (ASX:UBI) share price up on “global first” 30-second COVID-19 test

The author has no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3yXtuEF

2021 was a year that was going extremely well for the Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) share price. I say ‘was’ because the last quarter of the year was certainly not as kind to Westpac shares as the first three.

Between 1 January and 28 October, the Westpac share price rose a very pleasing 33.62%. But the past few months have brought this ASX 200 bank down to earth somewhat. Between 28 October and today, Westpac has dropped a little over 18%. That pulls its year-to-date gains down to almost 9% at the time of writing.

If you throw in Westpac’s two 2021 dividends, that return gets slightly better. Westpac paid out two dividends this year. Those were an interim dividend of 58 cents per share that investors received back in June and the final dividend of 60 cents per share that was paid out earlier this week. Those dividends would have added an extra few percentage points to Westpac’s 2021 overall return.

So now that 2021 is almost in the rearview mirror, what might 2022 hold for Westpac shares?

Top ASX brokers spill on the Westpac share price

Well, let’s see what some expert ASX investors think of the Westpac share price outlook.

ASX broker Goldman Sachs is currenlty neutral on Westpac. Goldman rates Westpac shares with a 12-month share price target of $25.60 (implying a potential upside of around 20%). However, it still has some hesitations for this ASX bank share. Goldman has its eye on Westpac’s margins, which it is worried will provide a “weak platform for revenue growth in FY 2022”.

It’s also worried about Westpac’s higher exposure to the housing market, especially in New South Wales. However, it also takes note that Westpac may be able to buy back more of its shares under the current share buyback program due to the recent falls in the Westpac share price.

Goldman Sachs isn’t the only broker that is currently sitting on its hands when it comes to Westpac shares. As my Fool colleague James covered earlier this week, fellow broker Bell Potter is also currently rating Westpac shares as a hold. Bell Potter has a $22 share price target on Westpac right now. It is adopting a ‘wait-and-see’ attitude towards the bank’s ‘Fix, Simplify and Reform’ plans, since these reforms “soak time and money”.

Not all brokers are as ambivalent though. As we checked out earlier in December, broker Morgans currently rates Westpac as a ‘buy’, with a share price target of $29. This broker reckons Westpac shares are good value at these levels, pointing to its current dividend yield (sitting at 5.51% today).

So there you have it, some expert opinions on what 2022 holds in store for the Westpac share price. Time will only tell who ends up being right, so let’s see how Westpac fares in 2022!

 

The post Could 2022 be a good year for the Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Here’s what Bell Potter thinks of the Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price
• The final Westpac (ASX:WBC) dividend is being paid today. Here’s what you need to know
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Tuesday
• Westpac (ASX:WBC) share price falls despite asset sale announcement
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Westpac Banking Corporation. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3pm5tnO

The Sonic Healthcare Ltd (ASX: SHL) share price has hit a 52-week high amid a rule change regarding when Aussies are eligible to get their COVID-19 booster vaccination.

Sonic says its staff perform crucial frontline roles in combating the pandemic, with its laboratories testing tens of thousands of people every day for COVID-19. In mid-November, it had performed 36 million COVID-19 PCR tests in total around the world to that date, as well as conducting COVID-19 serology testing and, in some markets, whole genome sequencing to help identify variants.

In Australia, it’s also the largest non-government COVID vaccination provider. In the middle of November 2021, it had provided more than 1 million COVID vaccinations.

COVID booster change

According to reporting by various media, such as The Guardian, the amount of time between COVID vaccinations will be reduced to four months from 4 January and then it will be reduced to three months on 31 January, based on updated advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI).

Greg Hunt, the health minister of Australia, said the country should today pass the 2 million mark for boosters given. According to The Guardian, he said:

It’s no surprise we will be bringing forward the eligibility for the booster dose to four months as of 4 January. The planning behind that is that will open up a new cohort. Currently that means that we will go from about 3.2 million people who are eligible today to approximately 7.5 million who will be eligible as 4 January. That means that the cohort has expanded.

It will be expanded again on the 31st of January to three months and that will take it out to 16 million Australians who will be eligible at that point in time and as we have said all along, eligibility is the beginning of access, it doesn’t mean that somebody is overdue the very day they become eligible.

These dates have been set out of an abundance of caution to give Australians early continued protection and the advice we have is that the protection as it is is very strong against severe illness, but what we’ll see is a much stronger protection against transmission.

What could this mean for COVID and the Sonic share price?

However, whilst the ATAGI has approved the change in the booster dates, it said in a statement that booster vaccinations alone will not be enough to stop a huge surge of COVID-19 due to Omicron.

It said:

ATAGI expects that booster vaccination alone will not be sufficient to avert a surge due to Omicron. However, maximising booster coverage by expanding eligibility and encouraging high uptake, in combination with enhanced public health and social measures, may prevent a large surge in case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths. ATAGI also acknowledges the demands that the booster and paediatric COVID-19 vaccination programs will have on the immunisation workforce.

Sonic’s share price, profit and revenue seemingly continues to be partly impacted by the level of testing that it’s doing.

Over the last month, the Sonic share price has risen 11% as Omicron infections multiply.

In the four months to October 2021, before this surge of Omicron, Sonic’s revenue had grown 5% and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) had risen 16% as it benefits from operating leverage.

The base business, which excludes COVID-19-related services and is predominately pathology, continues to grow. It was up 6% in the first four months of FY22.

The post Sonic (ASX:SHL) share price hits 52-week high amid COVID booster change appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: AMP shoots higher, travel shares rise
• Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Experts rate these 2 ASX healthcare shares as buys in 2022
• ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: BNPL shares sold off, Corporate Travel returns
• Sonic Healthcare (ASX:SHL) share price struggles despite US acquisition

Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Sonic Healthcare Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3ElLl9v

At lunch on Christmas Eve, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to end the week in a very positive fashion. The benchmark index is currently up 0.6% to 7,429.1 points.

Here’s what is happening on the ASX 200 today:

AMP shares shoot higher

The AMP Ltd (ASX: AMP) share price has been a strong performer today after announcing a divestment from its private markets business, PrivateMarketsCo. AMP has entered into a binding agreement to sell its infrastructure debt platform to Ares Holdings for a total cash consideration of $428 million. The agreement follows PrivateMarketsCo’s strategic decision to focus on managing equity investments in real estate and infrastructure.

Rio Tinto to pause Serbian lithium plans

The Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) share price is pushing higher today despite reports that it will pause its Jadar project in Serbia due to community protests. Protestors have been hitting the streets to voice concerns about its environmental impact. This would be a blow for Rio Tinto given how it believes Jadar could be one of the world’s largest greenfield lithium projects.

Travel shares rise

Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) and Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) shares are rising on Friday. This appears to have been driven by news that Australians will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 booster shot four months after their second vaccine from January 4. This will be reduced to three months at the end of January. Companies benefiting from COVID-19 testing such as Sonic Healthcare Limited (ASX: SHL) are underperforming the ASX 200 on the news.

Best and worst ASX 200 performers

The best performer on the ASX 200 on Friday has been the AMP share price with a 7% gain following its divestment announcement. The worst performer has been the Reliance Worldwide Corporation Ltd (ASX: RWC) share price with a 2% decline on no news.

The post ASX 200 (ASX:XJO) midday update: AMP shoots higher, travel shares rise appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Sonic (ASX:SHL) share price hits 52-week high amid COVID booster change
• Here’s why the AMP (ASX:AMP) share price is racing 6% higher today
• Rio Tinto share price gains despite reports $3.3b lithium project to be halted
• 2022 will be a shocker, so this is what to do: experts
• Christmas is a bumper time for travel, so why is the Webjet (ASX:WEB) share price still struggling in December?

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended Reliance Worldwide Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Corporate Travel Management Limited, Reliance Worldwide Corporation Limited, Sonic Healthcare Limited, and Webjet Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3yW8QoD

The Inoviq Ltd (ASX: IIQ) share price is racing higher during early Friday afternoon. This comes after the medical diagnostics company announced it has secured a new patent for diagnosing lung cancer.

At the time of writing, Inoviq shares are up 4.21% to $1.115 apiece. In contrast, the All Ordinaries (ASX: XAO) is up 0.63% to 7,755.9 points.

Inoviq granted new patent protection

Investors are pushing Inoviq shares higher after digesting the company’s positive update.

In its release, Inoviq advised that it has been granted a patent to add to its growing portfolio. Approved by the Chinese Patent Office, the latest addition will seek to further protect Inoviq’s intellectual property.

Titled, ‘Lung Cancer Diagnosis’, the new patent explains the methods towards detecting antibodies to BARD1 peptides. This is for diagnosing lung cancer and developing an autoantibody test kit in the world’s second biggest health care market.

The new patent is set to expire on 5 February 2035.

Inoviq CEO, Dr Leearne Hinch commented:

This patent enforces intellectual property protection in China for a potential BARD1-Lung cancer test that detects autoantibodies associated with lung cancer. Patent family PCT/EP2014/073834 now has seven granted patents in Australia, China, Israel, Japan, Korea, Singapore and the USA.

Quick take on Inoviq

Formerly known as BARD1 Life Sciences, Inoviq is an Australian-based medical diagnostics company that is focused on developing and commercialising non-invasive diagnostic tests for early detection of cancer.

The company’s proprietary technology platform is based on novel tumour markers with potential diagnostic and therapeutic applications across multiple cancers. The pipeline includes two development-stage autoantibody tests for early detection of lung and ovarian cancers.

Inoviq is headquartered in Perth, Australia, and has contract research laboratories at the University of Geneva, Switzerland.

Inoviq share price summary

In the past 12 months, Inoviq shares have accelerated to more than 60%. However, year-to-date performance has further jumped to post a gain above 66%.

Based on valuation metrics, Inoviq presides a market capitalisation of roughly $102.60 million, with approximately 92.02 million shares outstanding.

The post What’s going on with the Inoviq (ASX:IIQ) share price today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why has the BARD1 (ASX:BD1) share price vanished from the ASX boards?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3FpStTR

The Universal Biosensors Inc (ASX: UBI) share price is in the green after the company announced a licensing deal to commercialise a new rapid COVID-19 test.

Shares in the biotech are swapping hands for 89 cents at the time of writing, up 0.57%. Shortly after the market open, the share price jumped to an intraday high thus far of 94 cents. This is 6.8% higher than yesterday’s close.

Let’s take a look at the news driving positive investor sentiment today.

What is impacting the Universal Biosensors share price?

Universal Biosensors informed ASX investors that it has signed a deal with IQ Science Limited. The deal will commercialise a new rapid COVID-19 test.

The SARS-CoV-2 N-protein detection test will use the company’s electrochemical strip and device technology.

Initial internal validation work found the COVID-19 test can detect the virus within just 30 seconds.

Universal Biosensors has been working with IQ Science founder Dr Shalen Kumar on the technology for 6 months.

The licensing agreement is globally exclusive. Commercialisation fees will be paid either after the test gains regulatory approval, or when the test generates $1 million in sales.

Universal Biosensors will manage funding for the project and gaining all the regulatory approvals required to commercialise the test. If the test is not taken to the market within the next 5 years, the licence will become non-exclusive.

Management comment

Commenting on the COVID-19 test agreement, Universal Biosensors CEO John Sharman said:

The deal with IQ Science is an important breakthrough for UBI since it will be the first time our platform will use aptamers as a detection technique.

Aptamers are a next generation biorecognition element which when combined with our existing technology platform should allow us to detect and measure a large number of targets.

Based on what we know is available in the world today, a COVID-19 Test offering an accurate result within 30 seconds of the patient sample will be the first of its kind globally.

Universal Biosensors share price snapshot

The Universal Biosensors share price has surged by roughly 106% in the past 12 months. For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up by more than 11% over the same period.

The company has a market capitalisation of roughly $159 million based on its current share price.

The post Universal Biosensors (ASX:UBI) share price up on “global first” 30-second COVID-19 test appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What’s going on with the Inoviq (ASX:IIQ) share price today?
• Why is the OncoSil Medical (ASX:OSL) share price surging 18% today?
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Here’s why the AMP (ASX:AMP) share price is racing 6% higher today
• Rio Tinto share price gains despite reports $3.3b lithium project to be halted

The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/32xH31r

The OncoSil Medical Ltd (ASX: OSL) share price is soaring higher on Friday after the company announced the publication of the PanCO clinical study’s final results.

The study confirmed the company’s OncoSil device can be safely and successfully used alongside chemotherapy to treat unresectable locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

At the time of writing, the OncoSil share price is 4.6 cents, 17.95% higher than its previous close.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s news from the medical device company.

OncoSil share price leaps higher on study results

The OncoSil share price is surging on the results of the PanCO clinical study, conducted in Australia, Belgium, and the United Kingdom.

The company’s OncoSil device delivers beta radiation to cancerous tissue.

The study found it controlled advanced pancreatic cancer at the 16-week point in 90.5% of patients. On top of that, 31% of the study’s participants achieved a disease control rate of 100%.

Finally, despite the recruited patients having had their cancers defined as unresectable (unable to be removed completely through surgery) by pancreatic cancer experts, 23.8% had surgery with the intent to cure their cancer after being treated with chemotherapy plus OncoSil.

The company also notes more patients found their cancer was resectable following the study but chose not to receive surgery.

The device was also found to not cause adverse events related to radiation.

The paper resulting from the study has been published in ESMO Open. ESMO Open is the European Society for Medical Oncology’s peer-reviewed open-access journal.

Speaking on the results of the study fuelling the OncoSil share price, its principal investigator Dr Paul Ross commented:

The results of this important clinical study provide evidence that OncoSil can address a significant unmet clinical need in patients with unresectable locally advanced pancreatic cancer. The results clearly show an acceptable safety profile and encouraging clinical benefits for patients.

OncoSil’s CEO and managing director Nigel Lange also commented on the news, saying:

We are very encouraged by the published results of the PanCO study… We will be sharing this clinical evidence with gastroenterologists, oncologists, and nuclear medicine physicians to make this novel treatment more widely available to patients.

Despite today’s uptick, the OncoSil share price is still down 61% year to date. Though, it has gained 2.2% over the last 30 days.

The post Why is the OncoSil Medical (ASX:OSL) share price surging 18% today? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• What’s going on with the Inoviq (ASX:IIQ) share price today?
• Universal Biosensors (ASX:UBI) share price up on “global first” 30-second COVID-19 test
• Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today
• Here’s why the AMP (ASX:AMP) share price is racing 6% higher today
• Rio Tinto share price gains despite reports $3.3b lithium project to be halted

Motley Fool contributor Brooke Cooper has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3Ha41La

While a lot of analysts have now finished the holidays, a few are still working hard this week and have updated their recommendations on several ASX shares.

Listed below are three ASX shares that brokers have named as buys this week:

Booktopia Group Ltd (ASX: BKG)

According to a note out of Morgans, its analysts have retained their add rating but slashed their price target on this online book retailer’s shares to $2.78. This follows the release of a trading update which revealed guidance well short of Morgans’ estimates. This has led to the broker taking an axe to its earnings estimates for the coming years. However, it still sees enough value in Booktopia’s shares at the current level to recommend it as a buy. Particularly given its positive long term outlook due to market share gains and distribution centre automation. The Booktopia share price is trading at $1.40 on Friday.

Charter Hall Social Infrastructure REIT (ASX: CQE)

A note out of Goldman Sachs reveals that its analysts have retained their conviction buy rating and lifted their price target on this social infrastructure-focused property company’s shares to $4.13. This follows the announcement of two new childcare portfolio acquisitions for $134.3 million and an increase to its distribution guidance for FY 2022 to 17.2 cents per share. Goldman believes the acquisitions solidify its view that the company is positioned for a solid growth outlook given its strong balance sheet with headroom and liquidity to pursue investment opportunities. The Charter Hall Social Infrastructure share price is fetching $4.00 today.

Siteminder Ltd (ASX: SDR)

Analysts at UBS have initiated coverage on this hotel commerce platform provider’s shares with a buy rating and $7.45 price target. UBS likes Siteminder due to its significant opportunity in a large and extremely fragmented market. It also notes that a good portion of its addressable market is still using manual processes and could benefit from switching to Siteminder’s platform. The Siteminder share price is trading at $6.91 today.

The post Brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• Why the Booktopia (ASX:BKG) share price just crashed 10% to a record low
• Brokers rate these ASX dividend shares as buys
• 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares with strong yields
• What happened with the Booktopia (ASX:BKG) share price today?
• Top broker gives its verdict on the Siteminder (ASX:SDR) share price

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns and has recommended SiteMinder Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has recommended Booktopia Group Limited. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/3eiIXFY