Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on Cellectis (NASDAQ:CLLS)

Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Cellectis (NASDAQ:CLLS) in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $7.00 price target on the biotechnology company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 72.41% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CLLS. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $4.00 target price on shares of Cellectis in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Clear Str raised Cellectis to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cellectis in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.33.

Cellectis Trading Up 4.6%

Shares of Cellectis stock opened at $4.06 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $4.24 and a 200 day moving average of $3.78. Cellectis has a 52 week low of $1.10 and a 52 week high of $5.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.49.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Cellectis by 228.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,722,664 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,856,000 after acquiring an additional 3,284,409 shares during the last quarter. B Group Inc. boosted its stake in Cellectis by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. B Group Inc. now owns 3,281,501 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,352,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new stake in Cellectis during the 4th quarter valued at about $15,385,000. Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Cellectis during the 3rd quarter valued at about $633,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Cellectis by 1,610.3% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 178,473 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $864,000 after buying an additional 168,038 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.90% of the company’s stock.

About Cellectis

Cellectis is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of gene‐edited cell therapies for oncology. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Paris, France, the company also maintains operations in New York City and Raleigh, North Carolina. Cellectis applies its proprietary TALEN genome editing platform to engineer allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T‐cell (CAR‐T) candidates designed to target blood cancers and solid tumors.

The company’s core business activities encompass the discovery, development and manufacturing of off‐the‐shelf immunotherapies.