Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL) to “Strong-Buy”

Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL) was upgraded by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Autolus Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Truist Financial upgraded Autolus Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on Autolus Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $9.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Autolus Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on Autolus Therapeutics from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $8.50.

Autolus Therapeutics Stock Performance

AUTL opened at $1.55 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $412.52 million, a PE ratio of -1.44 and a beta of 2.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1.50 and a 200-day moving average of $1.52. Autolus Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $1.15 and a 52-week high of $2.70.

Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 27th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.07). Autolus Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 99.05% and a negative net margin of 381.40%.The company had revenue of $24.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.92 million. On average, research analysts predict that Autolus Therapeutics will post -1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Marex Group plc bought a new position in Autolus Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Independent Advisor Alliance acquired a new stake in shares of Autolus Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. SmartHarvest Portfolios LLC bought a new stake in Autolus Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Autolus Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd raised its stake in Autolus Therapeutics by 40.1% in the third quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 30,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 8,730 shares during the period. 72.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Autolus Therapeutics

Autolus Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of next-generation, programmed T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. The company leverages proprietary technologies to engineer autologous T cells that target and eradicate tumor cells, with the aim of improving safety, efficacy and durability over existing cell therapies. Its R&D platform integrates antigen receptor design, gene editing and manufacturing optimization to generate candidates tailored for specific hematologic malignancies and solid tumor indications.

The company’s leading pipeline candidates include AUTO1, an optimized CD19-targeted CAR-T therapy for relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and AUTO3, a dual-targeted CD19/22 CAR-T program in development for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.