Short Interest in Cellectis S.A. (NASDAQ:CLLS) Expands By 41.7%

Cellectis S.A. (NASDAQ:CLLS) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 400,576 shares, a growth of 41.7% from the December 15th total of 282,762 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 111,087 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 111,087 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days. Approximately 0.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CLLS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Cellectis from $4.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cellectis to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th. Clear Str upgraded Cellectis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cellectis in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $4.00 price target on shares of Cellectis in a research note on Monday, October 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cellectis has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cellectis

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Cellectis by 228.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,722,664 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $5,856,000 after buying an additional 3,284,409 shares during the period. Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cellectis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $633,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cellectis by 132.9% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 46,377 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 26,461 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cellectis during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $72,000. Finally, B Group Inc. raised its stake in Cellectis by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. B Group Inc. now owns 3,281,501 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,352,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.90% of the company’s stock.

Cellectis Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of CLLS opened at $4.07 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Cellectis has a twelve month low of $1.10 and a twelve month high of $5.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $4.54 and a 200-day moving average of $3.47.

Cellectis (NASDAQ:CLLS) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $37.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.22 million. Cellectis had a negative return on equity of 51.22% and a negative net margin of 58.06%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cellectis will post -0.46 EPS for the current year.

About Cellectis

Cellectis is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of gene‐edited cell therapies for oncology. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Paris, France, the company also maintains operations in New York City and Raleigh, North Carolina. Cellectis applies its proprietary TALEN genome editing platform to engineer allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T‐cell (CAR‐T) candidates designed to target blood cancers and solid tumors.

The company’s core business activities encompass the discovery, development and manufacturing of off‐the‐shelf immunotherapies.