Lyell Immunopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYEL) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Lyell Immunopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYEL) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,138,296 shares, a growth of 21.1% from the March 15th total of 940,269 shares. Approximately 6.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 89,076 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 12.8 days.

Lyell Immunopharma Price Performance

Shares of LYEL opened at $23.70 on Friday. Lyell Immunopharma has a 1-year low of $7.65 and a 1-year high of $45.00. The stock has a market cap of $552.92 million, a PE ratio of -1.45 and a beta of -0.06. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.96.

Lyell Immunopharma (NASDAQ:LYEL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported ($7.68) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.15) by ($5.53). Lyell Immunopharma had a negative net margin of 762,355.56% and a negative return on equity of 90.52%. The company had revenue of $0.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.02 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lyell Immunopharma will post -0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Lyell Immunopharma

In other news, CEO Lynn Seely sold 7,455 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.39, for a total value of $174,372.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 74,266 shares in the company, valued at $1,737,081.74. This represents a 9.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Gary K. Lee sold 1,671 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.39, for a total transaction of $39,084.69. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 16,938 shares in the company, valued at $396,179.82. The trade was a 8.98% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 11,310 shares of company stock worth $264,285 over the last 90 days. 22.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lyell Immunopharma

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Lyell Immunopharma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,036,000. MWG Caph Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Lyell Immunopharma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,030,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Lyell Immunopharma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Lyell Immunopharma by 1,239.5% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 15,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 14,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Lyell Immunopharma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,257,000. 66.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LYEL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Lyell Immunopharma from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Citizens Jmp began coverage on shares of Lyell Immunopharma in a report on Monday, March 9th. They set a “market outperform” rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Lyell Immunopharma in a report on Friday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lyell Immunopharma in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lyell Immunopharma from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Lyell Immunopharma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.00.

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.