Lyell Immunopharma (NASDAQ:LYEL) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Lyell Immunopharma (NASDAQ:LYEL) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lyell Immunopharma in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. HC Wainwright upgraded Lyell Immunopharma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $20.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on Lyell Immunopharma in a report on Monday, March 9th. They issued a “market outperform” rating and a $34.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lyell Immunopharma currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.50.

Lyell Immunopharma Stock Down 2.7%

NASDAQ:LYEL opened at $19.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $458.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.21 and a beta of -0.14. Lyell Immunopharma has a 52 week low of $7.65 and a 52 week high of $45.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $23.24 and a 200 day moving average of $22.06.

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

Insider Transactions at Lyell Immunopharma

In other news, insider Gary K. Lee sold 1,671 shares of Lyell Immunopharma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.39, for a total transaction of $39,084.69. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 16,938 shares in the company, valued at approximately $396,179.82. The trade was a 8.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lynn Seely sold 7,455 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.39, for a total transaction of $174,372.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 74,266 shares in the company, valued at $1,737,081.74. This trade represents a 9.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,310 shares of company stock worth $264,285. Company insiders own 22.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LYEL. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lyell Immunopharma by 773.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 174,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 154,327 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Lyell Immunopharma in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $94,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Lyell Immunopharma in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $159,000. BBR Partners LLC purchased a new position in Lyell Immunopharma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $210,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in Lyell Immunopharma during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $258,000. 66.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.