Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Autolus Therapeutics from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 12th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Autolus Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Autolus Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Autolus Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.33.

Autolus Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of AUTL stock opened at $1.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1.57 and a 200-day moving average of $1.71. The stock has a market cap of $388.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.76 and a beta of 2.01. Autolus Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $1.11 and a 52-week high of $2.70.

Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.07). Autolus Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 439.69% and a negative return on equity of 63.76%. The business had revenue of $21.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.08 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Autolus Therapeutics will post -0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Autolus Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Autolus Therapeutics by 53.3% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 32,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 11,381 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in Autolus Therapeutics by 809.4% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 102,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 91,222 shares during the period. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Autolus Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $61,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in shares of Autolus Therapeutics by 63.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 30,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 11,821 shares during the period. Finally, Delaney Dennis R bought a new stake in shares of Autolus Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $55,000. Institutional investors own 72.83% of the company’s stock.

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.