Short Interest in Lyell Immunopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYEL) Grows By 71.6%

Lyell Immunopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYEL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,710,000 shares, an increase of 71.6% from the April 30th total of 5,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 770,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 12.6 days. Currently, 8.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, HC Wainwright reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of Lyell Immunopharma in a report on Wednesday, April 16th.

Lyell Immunopharma Price Performance

Shares of Lyell Immunopharma stock traded up $5.48 on Wednesday, hitting $13.47. 1,681,658 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 60,192. Lyell Immunopharma has a one year low of $7.65 and a one year high of $53.90. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $8.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of -17.05 and a beta of -0.25.

Lyell Immunopharma (NASDAQ:LYEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 13th. The company reported ($3.60) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($3.80) by $0.20. Lyell Immunopharma had a negative return on equity of 34.64% and a negative net margin of 323,792.09%. The company had revenue of $0.01 million for the quarter. On average, analysts forecast that Lyell Immunopharma will post -0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lyell Immunopharma news, CEO Lynn Seely acquired 8,750 shares of Lyell Immunopharma stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.20 per share, for a total transaction of $106,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $434,625. This trade represents a 32.56% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard Klausner acquired 7,900 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $12.00 per share, with a total value of $94,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $506,016. This trade represents a 23.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 38,432 shares of company stock worth $449,508 in the last three months. 25.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Lyell Immunopharma

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Lyell Immunopharma by 773.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 174,279 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 154,327 shares in the last quarter. Almitas Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Lyell Immunopharma by 136.3% in the first quarter. Almitas Capital LLC now owns 2,482,606 shares of the company's stock worth $1,336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,432,086 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Lyell Immunopharma in the first quarter valued at $345,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Lyell Immunopharma by 82.4% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 246,349 shares of the company's stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 111,299 shares in the last quarter. 66.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Lyell Immunopharma

Lyell Immunopharma, Inc, a clinical-stage cell therapy company, develops T cell reprogramming technologies for patients with solid tumors. The company develops therapies using an ex vivo genetic reprogramming technologies, such as c Jun overexpression and NR4A3 gene knockout, to endow resistance to T cell exhaustion; and an ex vivo epigenetic reprogramming technologies, including Epi R to generate population of T cells with durable stemness, and Stim R, a proprietary synthetic cell mimetic.