SELLAS Life Sciences Group (NASDAQ:SLS) Stock Sees Heavy Call Option Buying

Key Points

• Call option activity surged: Investors purchased 57,085 call options in SELLAS Life Sciences Group, 29% above its typical daily volume.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Two analysts rate the stock Buy while one rates it Sell, resulting in a consensus rating of Hold and a $10.00 price target.
• Shares declined to $9.99: The stock remains highly volatile, with a 12-month range of $1.39 to $15.88, while the company recently reported a quarterly EPS loss of $0.05, below estimates.

SELLAS Life Sciences Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SLS - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 57,085 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 29% compared to the typical daily volume of 44,315 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on SLS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of SELLAS Life Sciences Group in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Alliance Global Partners reissued a "buy" rating on shares of SELLAS Life Sciences Group in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, SELLAS Life Sciences Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.00.

SELLAS Life Sciences Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SLS traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $9.99. 5,660,522 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,890,419. SELLAS Life Sciences Group has a 12 month low of $1.39 and a 12 month high of $15.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.67 and a beta of 2.56. The business's 50-day moving average price is $12.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.50.

SELLAS Life Sciences Group (NASDAQ:SLS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.01).

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SELLAS Life Sciences Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in SELLAS Life Sciences Group in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of SELLAS Life Sciences Group by 293.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of SELLAS Life Sciences Group by 900.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,635 shares of the company's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 5,972 shares during the period. City State Bank purchased a new stake in SELLAS Life Sciences Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $100,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in SELLAS Life Sciences Group by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 9,337 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares during the period. 17.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SELLAS Life Sciences Group Company Profile

SELLAS Life Sciences Group, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel cancer therapies. The company's research and development programs are centered on treatments designed to stimulate or restore the immune system's ability to recognize and attack cancer cells, as well as targeted therapies for hematologic malignancies.

SELLAS' lead product candidate is galinpepimut-S (GPS), a multi-peptide immunotherapeutic targeting Wilms' tumor 1 (WT1), a protein expressed in multiple types of cancer.

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