Celcuity (NASDAQ:CELC) Stock Price Up 7.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Celcuity's stock price rose by 7.2% following an upgrade by HC Wainwright, which increased their price target from $66.00 to $77.00, maintaining a buy rating.
• The company reported a loss of $1.04 EPS for its latest quarter, missing analysts' expectations by 14 cents.
• Institutional investors hold 63.33% of Celcuity's stock, with significant recent increases in holdings from firms like Trexquant Investment LP and Baker BROS. Advisors LP.

Celcuity, Inc. (NASDAQ:CELC - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 7.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after HC Wainwright raised their price target on the stock from $66.00 to $77.00. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. Celcuity traded as high as $68.63 and last traded at $70.19. 908,446 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 28% from the average session volume of 711,714 shares. The stock had previously closed at $65.50.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Celcuity in a report on Monday, September 22nd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Celcuity from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Celcuity in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on Celcuity from $28.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC set a $95.00 target price on Celcuity in a research report on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Celcuity news, Director David Dalvey sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.98, for a total value of $4,398,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 125,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,497,500. The trade was a 44.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 15.78% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its position in shares of Celcuity by 131.3% during the first quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 26,920 shares of the company's stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 15,280 shares during the period. Baker BROS. Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Celcuity by 59.0% during the first quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 4,257,735 shares of the company's stock worth $43,046,000 after buying an additional 1,579,182 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Celcuity by 8.9% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 42,194 shares of the company's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 3,439 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Celcuity during the first quarter worth about $704,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Celcuity by 1,237.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,324 shares of the company's stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares during the period. 63.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Celcuity Stock Up 6.6%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $52.55 and a 200 day moving average of $28.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24, a current ratio of 4.58 and a quick ratio of 4.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.40 and a beta of 0.70.

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.