Lyell Immunopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYEL) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Lyell Immunopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYEL) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 407,278 shares, a growth of 69.2% from the December 31st total of 240,730 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 102,840 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days. Based on an average daily volume of 102,840 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright raised shares of Lyell Immunopharma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $20.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lyell Immunopharma in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

Lyell Immunopharma Stock Performance

Shares of LYEL stock traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.00. The company had a trading volume of 75,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 91,694. Lyell Immunopharma has a 12-month low of $7.65 and a 12-month high of $45.00. The company has a market capitalization of $509.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.04 and a beta of -0.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.82 and a 200-day moving average of $18.84.

Lyell Immunopharma (NASDAQ:LYEL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($2.13) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.81) by $0.68. The firm had revenue of $0.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.01 million. Lyell Immunopharma had a negative return on equity of 96.68% and a negative net margin of 794,292.69%. On average, analysts forecast that Lyell Immunopharma will post -0.78 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lyell Immunopharma

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LYEL. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Lyell Immunopharma by 773.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 174,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 154,327 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Lyell Immunopharma in the second quarter valued at $94,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lyell Immunopharma during the 2nd quarter worth about $159,000. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Lyell Immunopharma during the second quarter worth approximately $258,000. Finally, Clarius Group LLC raised its stake in Lyell Immunopharma by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 19,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.05% of the company’s stock.

About Lyell Immunopharma

Lyell Immunopharma is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing next-generation T cell therapies for cancer. Leveraging a proprietary platform that combines cell therapy, gene editing and molecular discovery, Lyell seeks to overcome key barriers in the treatment of solid tumors. The company’s approach centers on engineering T cells to enhance their persistence, functionality and resistance to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.

The company’s pipeline includes multiple autologous T cell programs engineered to target tumor-associated antigens in solid malignancies such as melanoma, ovarian and pancreatic cancers.