Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Autolus Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:AUTL) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $1.94, but opened at $2.01. Autolus Therapeutics shares last traded at $1.92, with a volume of 220,321 shares.

The company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Autolus Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Autolus Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AUTL. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Autolus Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $611,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Autolus Therapeutics by 35.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,220,226 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,919,000 after purchasing an additional 6,330,392 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Autolus Therapeutics by 44.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,773,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,519,000 after purchasing an additional 5,478,706 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Autolus Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $708,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Autolus Therapeutics by 145.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,284,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,663,000 after purchasing an additional 761,008 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.83% of the company’s stock.

Autolus Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $511.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.60 and a beta of 2.07.

About Autolus Therapeutics

Autolus Therapeutics plc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company's clinical-stage programs include obecabtagene autoleucel (AUTO1), a CD19-targeting programmed T cell investigational therapy that is in Phase 1b/2 clinical trial for the treatment of adult ALL; AUTO1/22, which is in a Phase 1 clinical trial in pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory ALL; AUTO4, a programmed T cell investigational therapy for the treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma targeting TRBC1 and TRBC2; AUTO6NG, a programmed T cell investigational therapy targeting GD2 in development for the treatment of neuroblastoma; and AUTO8, a product candidate to treat multiple myeloma.