Autolus Therapeutics' (AUTL) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham & Company reaffirmed a "Buy" on Autolus with a $10 price target, while the consensus is a "Moderate Buy" (average target $8.50) based on 1 Strong Buy, 4 Buy, 1 Hold and 1 Sell ratings.
• Shares slid 7.4% to $1.20 (market cap ≈ $318M) after reporting a quarterly EPS loss of ($0.34) that missed estimates and a deeply negative net margin of 439.7%.
• Institutional investors own about 72.8% of the stock, with major funds like Mak Capital One and Armistice Capital notably increasing their stakes recently.

Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $10.00 price target on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial raised shares of Autolus Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded Autolus Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Autolus Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, HC Wainwright started coverage on shares of Autolus Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $9.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Autolus Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $8.50.

Autolus Therapeutics Stock Down 7.4%

Autolus Therapeutics stock traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1.20. The stock had a trading volume of 3,140,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,857,758. The stock has a market capitalization of $318.04 million, a P/E ratio of -1.45 and a beta of 1.95. Autolus Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $1.11 and a 12-month high of $2.70. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $1.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.52.

Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, March 27th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $24.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.92 million. Autolus Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 439.69% and a negative return on equity of 63.76%. On average, research analysts expect that Autolus Therapeutics will post -0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autolus Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mak Capital One LLC boosted its stake in shares of Autolus Therapeutics by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Mak Capital One LLC now owns 30,005,343 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,711,000 after purchasing an additional 3,987,727 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC boosted its position in Autolus Therapeutics by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 17,500,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,825,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900,000 shares in the last quarter. TFG Asset Management GP Ltd boosted its position in Autolus Therapeutics by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. TFG Asset Management GP Ltd now owns 9,500,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,660,000 after acquiring an additional 900,000 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Autolus Therapeutics by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 9,489,345 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,694,000 after acquiring an additional 1,056,092 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Autolus Therapeutics by 108.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,029,593 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,054,458 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.83% of the company's stock.

Autolus Therapeutics Company Profile

Autolus Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of next-generation, programmed T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. The company leverages proprietary technologies to engineer autologous T cells that target and eradicate tumor cells, with the aim of improving safety, efficacy and durability over existing cell therapies. Its R&D platform integrates antigen receptor design, gene editing and manufacturing optimization to generate candidates tailored for specific hematologic malignancies and solid tumor indications.

The company's leading pipeline candidates include AUTO1, an optimized CD19-targeted CAR-T therapy for relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and AUTO3, a dual-targeted CD19/22 CAR-T program in development for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

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