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

Lyell Immunopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYEL) was the target of a large drop in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 8,090,000 shares, a drop of 16.2% from the February 13th total of 9,650,000 shares. Currently, 6.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,160,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.0 days.

Insider Activity

In other Lyell Immunopharma news, CEO Lynn Seely bought 175,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $0.61 per share, with a total value of $106,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 712,500 shares in the company, valued at $434,625. The trade was a 32.56 % increase 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, Director Richard Klausner acquired 158,000 shares of Lyell Immunopharma stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $0.60 per share, for a total transaction of $94,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 843,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $506,019. The trade was a 23.05 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 533,000 shares of company stock worth $313,550 in the last 90 days. 25.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lyell Immunopharma

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Lyell Immunopharma during the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. venBio Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Lyell Immunopharma during the fourth quarter valued at $4,545,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Lyell Immunopharma by 143.8% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 306,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 180,700 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Lyell Immunopharma by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 957,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 247,440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Lyell Immunopharma by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 308,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $197,000 after purchasing an additional 36,555 shares in the last quarter. 66.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lyell Immunopharma Stock Down 5.5 %

LYEL stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $0.55. 436,706 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,042,182. The business has a 50-day moving average of $0.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $0.89. Lyell Immunopharma has a 52 week low of $0.48 and a 52 week high of $3.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.38 million, a PE ratio of -0.70 and a beta of -0.41.

Lyell Immunopharma (NASDAQ:LYEL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 12th. The company reported ($0.72) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.20) by ($0.52). The company had revenue of $0.01 million during the quarter. Lyell Immunopharma had a negative return on equity of 34.64% and a negative net margin of 323,792.09%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lyell Immunopharma will post -0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $1.00 target price on shares of Lyell Immunopharma in a research report on Thursday, March 13th.

Lyell Immunopharma Company Profile

Lyell Immunopharma, Inc, a clinical-stage cell therapy company, develops T cell reprogramming technologies for patients with solid tumors. The company develops therapies using an ex vivo genetic reprogramming technologies, such as c Jun overexpression and NR4A3 gene knockout, to endow resistance to T cell exhaustion; and an ex vivo epigenetic reprogramming technologies, including Epi R to generate population of T cells with durable stemness, and Stim R, a proprietary synthetic cell mimetic.