Lyell Immunopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYEL) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Lyell Immunopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYEL) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 240,730 shares, an increase of 46.4% from the December 15th total of 164,482 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 152,163 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 152,163 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Institutional Trading of Lyell Immunopharma

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LYEL. ARCH Venture Management LLC lifted its stake in Lyell Immunopharma by 51.5% in the third quarter. ARCH Venture Management LLC now owns 2,759,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,807,000 after acquiring an additional 938,438 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lyell Immunopharma by 76.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 779,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,651,000 after purchasing an additional 336,378 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Lyell Immunopharma by 204.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 660,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 443,614 shares during the period. Foresite Capital Management V LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lyell Immunopharma by 17.3% during the third quarter. Foresite Capital Management V LLC now owns 477,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,748,000 after purchasing an additional 70,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 154,327 shares in the last quarter. 66.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lyell Immunopharma Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of LYEL stock traded up $0.83 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $23.76. 152,243 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 128,422. The firm has a market capitalization of $504.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.03 and a beta of -0.13. Lyell Immunopharma has a 12-month low of $7.65 and a 12-month high of $45.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.84.

Lyell Immunopharma (NASDAQ:LYEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The company reported ($2.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.81) by $0.68. Lyell Immunopharma had a negative net margin of 794,292.69% and a negative return on equity of 96.68%. The business had revenue of $0.02 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.01 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lyell Immunopharma will post -0.78 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LYEL. HC Wainwright raised shares of Lyell Immunopharma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $20.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lyell Immunopharma in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

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.