Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL) Trading Down 3.5% After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Autolus Therapeutics' stock fell 3.5% after Wells Fargo downgraded its price target from $6.00 to $5.00, while maintaining an overweight rating.
• Despite the downgrade, Needham & Company reissued a "buy" rating and set a target price of $10.00, contributing to an average consensus target price of $9.12.
• Institutional investors hold 72.83% of Autolus Therapeutics' stock, with significant increases in holdings reported by several hedge funds in the recent quarter.

Autolus Therapeutics PLC Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:AUTL - Get Free Report) traded down 3.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $6.00 to $5.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Autolus Therapeutics traded as low as $2.02 and last traded at $2.09. 579,562 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 1,774,031 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.16.

Separately, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Autolus Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Autolus Therapeutics has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $9.12.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autolus Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Autolus Therapeutics by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 27,091,700 shares of the company's stock worth $41,992,000 after buying an additional 1,746,020 shares during the period. Armistice Capital LLC raised its stake in Autolus Therapeutics by 9.1% during the second quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 12,000,000 shares of the company's stock worth $27,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,000 shares in the last quarter. TFG Asset Management GP Ltd raised its stake in Autolus Therapeutics by 10.5% during the second quarter. TFG Asset Management GP Ltd now owns 9,500,000 shares of the company's stock worth $21,660,000 after acquiring an additional 900,000 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. bought a new position in shares of Autolus Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $4,288,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Autolus Therapeutics by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,653,241 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,885,000 after purchasing an additional 790,437 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.83% of the company's stock.

Autolus Therapeutics Stock Performance

The company's 50 day moving average price is $2.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.89. The company has a market cap of $500.34 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.24 and a beta of 1.90.

Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.24) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.92 million. As a group, analysts predict that Autolus Therapeutics PLC Sponsored ADR will post -0.94 EPS for the current year.

Autolus Therapeutics Company Profile

Autolus Therapeutics plc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company's clinical-stage programs include obecabtagene autoleucel (AUTO1), a CD19-targeting programmed T cell investigational therapy that is in Phase 1b/2 clinical trial for the treatment of adult ALL; AUTO1/22, which is in a Phase 1 clinical trial in pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory ALL; AUTO4, a programmed T cell investigational therapy for the treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma targeting TRBC1 and TRBC2; AUTO6NG, a programmed T cell investigational therapy targeting GD2 in development for the treatment of neuroblastoma; and AUTO8, a product candidate to treat multiple myeloma.