Cellectis S.A. (NASDAQ:CLLS) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• Cellectis S.A. experienced a 32.0% decline in short interest in July, with current short interest totaling 178,800 shares, which represents only 0.4% of its shares outstanding.
• The company reported a loss of ($0.24) EPS for the last quarter, missing expectations, but exceeded revenue forecasts with $18.19 million, against the anticipated $10.07 million.
• Institutional investors hold 63.90% of Cellectis' stock, with significant recent increases from firms like Wells Fargo and UBS Asset Management, reflecting growing investor interest.

Cellectis S.A. (NASDAQ:CLLS - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 178,800 shares, adropof32.0% from the July 15th total of 263,100 shares. Approximately0.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 143,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 143,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days. Approximately0.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cellectis

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CLLS. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in Cellectis by 103.4% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 24,590 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 12,500 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in Cellectis in the 4th quarter valued at $962,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC bought a new position in Cellectis in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Long Focus Capital Management LLC grew its position in Cellectis by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 4,717,293 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $5,849,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in Cellectis by 228.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,722,664 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $5,856,000 after acquiring an additional 3,284,409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.90% of the company's stock.

Cellectis Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of Cellectis stock traded up $0.08 on Friday, reaching $2.85. The company had a trading volume of 17,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 246,644. The firm has a market cap of $158.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.48 and a beta of 3.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $2.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.66. Cellectis has a 1 year low of $1.10 and a 1 year high of $3.24.

Cellectis (NASDAQ:CLLS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $18.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.07 million. Cellectis had a negative return on equity of 68.05% and a negative net margin of 100.69%. As a group, research analysts predict that Cellectis will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CLLS. Barclays dropped their target price on Cellectis from $5.00 to $4.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Cellectis from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $4.00.

Cellectis Company Profile

Cellectis SA, a clinical stage biotechnological company, develops immuno-oncology products based on gene-edited T-cells that express chimeric antigen receptors to target and eradicate cancer cells. The company is developing UCART19, an allogeneic T-cell product candidate for the treatment of CD19-expressing hematologic malignancies, such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia; ALLO-501 and ALLO-501A to treat relapsed or refractory for non-hodgkin lymphoma (NHL); and ALLO-715 for the treatment of multiple myeloma.