Celcuity (NASDAQ:CELC) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Celcuity received a "buy" rating from Needham & Company LLC, with a price target of $70.00, indicating a potential upside of 41.64% from its previous close.
• The stock has a current average target price of $56.50 following several upgrades from various brokerages, showing strong interest from analysts.
• Celcuity's latest quarterly earnings report indicated a loss of ($1.04) EPS, which was below analysts' expectations, contributing to its negative earnings per share forecast for the fiscal year.

Celcuity (NASDAQ:CELC - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's target price points to a potential upside of 41.64% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on CELC. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Celcuity in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Celcuity from $28.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Celcuity in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Celcuity from $50.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $56.50.

Celcuity Stock Performance

CELC opened at $49.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.32 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $49.53 and a 200 day moving average of $24.48. Celcuity has a fifty-two week low of $7.57 and a fifty-two week high of $63.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 4.58 and a current ratio of 4.58.

Celcuity (NASDAQ:CELC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported ($1.04) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.90) by ($0.14). As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Celcuity will post -2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Dalvey sold 100,000 shares of Celcuity stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.98, for a total transaction of $4,398,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 125,000 shares in the company, valued at $5,497,500. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 15.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celcuity

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Trexquant Investment LP raised its holdings in shares of Celcuity by 131.3% in the 1st quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 26,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 15,280 shares in the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Celcuity by 59.0% in the 1st quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 4,257,735 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,579,182 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Celcuity by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 42,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Celcuity by 1,237.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,324 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Celcuity in the 1st quarter valued at about $704,000. Institutional investors own 63.33% of the company's stock.

Celcuity Company Profile

Celcuity Inc, a clinical stage biotechnology company, focuses on the development of targeted therapies for the treatment of various solid tumors in the United States. The company's CELsignia diagnostic platform uses a patient's living tumor cells to identify the specific abnormal cellular process driving a patient's cancer and the related targeted therapy for the treatment.

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