Needham & Company LLC Begins Coverage on Lyell Immunopharma (NASDAQ:LYEL)

Key Points

• Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on Lyell Immunopharma with a "buy" rating and a $44.00 price target, implying roughly an 84.5% upside from the current share price.
• Lyell is a clinical‑stage biotech with no meaningful revenue and reported a sharp quarterly loss (EPS ($7.68)), missing estimates and showing deeply negative return on equity and net margins.
• Insiders have sold shares recently (11,310 shares over 90 days) even as institutional investors increased stakes (AQR and Acadian among buyers), leaving institutions with about 66.1% ownership and insiders with 22.3%.

Analysts at Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Lyell Immunopharma (NASDAQ:LYEL - Get Free Report) in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's target price would suggest a potential upside of 84.49% from the stock's current price.

LYEL has been the topic of several other reports. Citizens Jmp began coverage on Lyell Immunopharma in a research report on Monday, March 9th. They issued a "market outperform" rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Lyell Immunopharma in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Lyell Immunopharma from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lyell Immunopharma from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lyell Immunopharma presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.00.

Lyell Immunopharma Price Performance

Lyell Immunopharma stock opened at $23.85 on Friday. Lyell Immunopharma has a fifty-two week low of $7.65 and a fifty-two week high of $45.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.59. The firm has a market cap of $556.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.46 and a beta of -0.06.

Lyell Immunopharma (NASDAQ:LYEL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported ($7.68) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.15) by ($5.53). Lyell Immunopharma had a negative return on equity of 90.52% and a negative net margin of 762,355.56%.The business had revenue of $0.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.02 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lyell Immunopharma will post -0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Lyell Immunopharma news, insider Gary K. Lee sold 1,671 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.39, for a total value of $39,084.69. Following the sale, the insider owned 16,938 shares of the company's stock, valued at $396,179.82. The trade was a 8.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Stephen J. Hill sold 1,236 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.39, for a total transaction of $28,910.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 17,795 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $416,225.05. This represents a 6.49% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,310 shares of company stock worth $264,285. Company insiders own 22.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Lyell Immunopharma

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Lyell Immunopharma by 773.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 174,279 shares of the company's stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 154,327 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lyell Immunopharma by 204.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 660,899 shares of the company's stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 443,614 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lyell Immunopharma in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $258,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Lyell Immunopharma during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $94,000. Finally, Orbimed Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lyell Immunopharma during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $457,000. Institutional investors own 66.05% of the company's stock.

About Lyell Immunopharma

Lyell Immunopharma is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing next-generation T cell therapies for cancer. Leveraging a proprietary platform that combines cell therapy, gene editing and molecular discovery, Lyell seeks to overcome key barriers in the treatment of solid tumors. The company's approach centers on engineering T cells to enhance their persistence, functionality and resistance to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment.

The company's pipeline includes multiple autologous T cell programs engineered to target tumor-associated antigens in solid malignancies such as melanoma, ovarian and pancreatic cancers.

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