Celcuity's (CELC) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Celcuity's stock (NASDAQ:CELC) received a reaffirmed "buy" rating from Needham & Company LLC, with a price target of $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 110.60% from its previous close.
• Institutional investors are actively increasing their stakes in Celcuity, with Baker BROS. Advisors boosting their holdings by 59.0% in the first quarter, now owning over 4.2 million shares.
• In its latest earnings report, Celcuity beat consensus estimates by reporting an EPS of ($0.86), compared to the expected ($0.95).

Celcuity (NASDAQ:CELC - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $29.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target would suggest a potential downside of 26.44% from the company's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on CELC. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Celcuity in a report on Monday, May 19th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Celcuity in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Celcuity presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.20.

Celcuity Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CELC traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $39.43. 1,238,144 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 527,432. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.06 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.09 and a 200 day moving average of $11.89. The company has a quick ratio of 6.61, a current ratio of 6.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. Celcuity has a 1-year low of $7.57 and a 1-year high of $46.42.

Celcuity (NASDAQ:CELC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The company reported ($0.86) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.95) by $0.09. Research analysts anticipate that Celcuity will post -2.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Dalvey sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.98, for a total value of $4,398,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 125,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,497,500. This trade represents 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 available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 15.77% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Celcuity

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Celcuity by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,651,981 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,624,000 after buying an additional 24,429 shares in the last quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. lifted its position in Celcuity by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 16,256 shares of the company's stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 1,858 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Celcuity by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,683 shares of the company's stock valued at $192,000 after buying an additional 2,676 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Celcuity by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 62,776 shares of the company's stock valued at $822,000 after buying an additional 11,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Celcuity by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 692,372 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,065,000 after buying an additional 62,003 shares in the last quarter. 63.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.