Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for Lyell Immunopharma (NASDAQ:LYEL)

Lyell Immunopharma (NASDAQ:LYEL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $44.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target suggests a potential upside of 127.63% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Lyell Immunopharma in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $49.00 target price on shares of Lyell Immunopharma and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of Lyell Immunopharma from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Citizens Jmp started coverage on shares of Lyell Immunopharma in a report on Monday, March 9th. They set a “market outperform” rating and a $34.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Lyell Immunopharma from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Lyell Immunopharma Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LYEL opened at $19.33 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.52. Lyell Immunopharma has a 1 year low of $7.65 and a 1 year high of $45.00. The company has a market capitalization of $450.97 million, a P/E ratio of -1.40 and a beta of -0.05.

Lyell Immunopharma (NASDAQ:LYEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.10) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($1.10). The firm had revenue of $0.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.00 million. Lyell Immunopharma had a negative return on equity of 84.36% and a negative net margin of 794,858.12%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lyell Immunopharma will post -10.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Gary K. Lee sold 1,671 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.39, for a total value of $39,084.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,938 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,179.82. This represents a 8.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Stephen J. Hill sold 1,236 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.39, for a total transaction of $28,910.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 17,795 shares in the company, valued at approximately $416,225.05. The trade was a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 11,310 shares of company stock worth $264,285 in the last ninety days. 6.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lyell Immunopharma

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GSK plc acquired a new stake in Lyell Immunopharma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,560,000. MWG Caph Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Lyell Immunopharma during the fourth quarter worth $31,030,000. ARCH Venture Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lyell Immunopharma by 51.5% during the third quarter. ARCH Venture Management LLC now owns 2,759,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,807,000 after buying an additional 938,438 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 443,614 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 336,378 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.05% of the company’s stock.

Lyell Immunopharma Company Profile

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.