Cellectis (NASDAQ:CLLS) Share Price Breaks Below Fifty Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Cellectis shares fell 6.7%, trading near $1.25 and breaking below the 50-day moving average of $2.49, signaling continued technical weakness.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans cautious: the consensus rating is “Hold”, with an average price target of $5.46. Barclays downgraded the stock to “underweight” and cut its target to $1.30, while other firms also reduced targets.
• The biotechnology company remains unprofitable, reporting a quarterly loss of $0.22 per share and $6.9 million in revenue versus $11.05 million expected. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.9% of the stock.

Cellectis S.A. (NASDAQ:CLLS - Get Free Report) shares crossed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $2.49 and traded as low as $1.2205. Cellectis shares last traded at $1.25, with a volume of 106,832 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CLLS shares. Weiss Ratings raised Cellectis from a "sell (e+)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Cellectis from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Barclays lowered shares of Cellectis from an "overweight" rating to an "underweight" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $9.00 to $1.30 in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Cellectis from $10.00 to $8.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Cellectis in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cellectis has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $5.46.

Cellectis Trading Down 6.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.42 million, a P/E ratio of -1.92 and a beta of 3.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.06.

Cellectis (NASDAQ:CLLS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.04. Cellectis had a negative return on equity of 94.19% and a negative net margin of 102.34%.The company had revenue of $6.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 million.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cellectis

A hedge fund recently bought a new position in Cellectis stock. Lido Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cellectis S.A. (NASDAQ:CLLS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 10,094 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $32,000. 63.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cellectis Company Profile

Cellectis is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing gene-edited, allogeneic cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. The company uses its TALEN gene-editing technology to modify immune cells, including T cells, with the goal of creating “off-the-shelf” therapies that can be manufactured in advance and administered to multiple patients.

Cellectis' development programs include UCART, or Universal Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell, therapies designed to target specific cancer antigens.

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