Needham & Company LLC Begins Coverage on Lyell Immunopharma (NASDAQ:LYEL)

Research analysts at Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Lyell Immunopharma (NASDAQ:LYEL) in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 96.52% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Lyell Immunopharma from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lyell Immunopharma in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered Lyell Immunopharma from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Citizens Jmp began coverage on Lyell Immunopharma in a research report on Monday, March 9th. They set a “market outperform” rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Lyell Immunopharma Trading Down 6.1%

LYEL stock opened at $22.39 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $522.36 million, a P/E ratio of -1.37 and a beta of -0.06. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.72. Lyell Immunopharma has a 1-year low of $7.65 and a 1-year high of $45.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Gary K. Lee sold 1,671 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 16,938 shares in the company, valued at $396,179.82. This trade represents a 8.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Stephen J. Hill sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.39, for a total value of $28,910.04. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 17,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $416,225.05. The trade was a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 11,310 shares of company stock worth $264,285 in the last ninety days. 22.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyell Immunopharma

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LYEL. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Lyell Immunopharma by 773.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 174,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 154,327 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in Lyell Immunopharma during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $94,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Lyell Immunopharma during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $159,000. BBR Partners LLC bought a new position in Lyell Immunopharma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $210,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC bought a new position in Lyell Immunopharma during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $258,000. 66.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lyell Immunopharma Company Profile

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.