Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Adaptimmune Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ADAP)

Key Points

• Adaptimmune Therapeutics experienced a significant increase in call options trading, with 4,105 call options purchased, marking a 350% rise from its typical daily volume.
• Multiple analysts have downgraded the stock, with Guggenheim changing its rating from "strong-buy" to "hold" and Mizuho lowering its price target from $1.50 to $0.50, reflecting cautious sentiment towards the stock.
• Insider transactions reveal that Director Ali Behbahani sold over 14 million shares, indicating potential lack of confidence from company insiders amidst ongoing share trading activity.

Adaptimmune Therapeutics PLC (NASDAQ:ADAP - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 4,105 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 350% compared to the typical daily volume of 912 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim cut shares of Adaptimmune Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Adaptimmune Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Adaptimmune Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho lowered shares of Adaptimmune Therapeutics from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $1.50 to $0.50 in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $1.35.

Adaptimmune Therapeutics Price Performance

ADAP traded up $0.03 on Thursday, reaching $0.24. 98,583,898 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,319,396. The stock has a market cap of $63.61 million, a PE ratio of -0.36 and a beta of 2.49. Adaptimmune Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $0.04 and a twelve month high of $0.91. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $0.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $0.20.

Adaptimmune Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ADAP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.04 million. Adaptimmune Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 260.82% and a negative return on equity of 163.73%. As a group, research analysts predict that Adaptimmune Therapeutics will post -0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Adaptimmune Therapeutics

In other news, Director Ali Behbahani sold 14,671,794 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.01, for a total value of $146,717.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,803,000 shares of company stock valued at $198,030. Insiders own 12.74% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Long Focus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Adaptimmune Therapeutics by 15.9% in the 1st quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 23,756,687 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $4,680,000 after buying an additional 3,262,294 shares in the last quarter. Two Seas Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Adaptimmune Therapeutics by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 22,580,701 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $5,413,000 after buying an additional 2,051,016 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Adaptimmune Therapeutics by 334.8% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,218,215 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 1,707,999 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC acquired a new position in shares of Adaptimmune Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $192,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Adaptimmune Therapeutics by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 76,347 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 19,146 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 31.37% of the company's stock.

Adaptimmune Therapeutics Company Profile

Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, provides novel cell therapies primarily to cancer patients in the United States and the United Kingdom. It develops SPEARHEAD-1 that is in phase II clinical trials with ADP-A2M4 for synovial sarcoma; SURPASS-3 that is in phase II clinical trial with ADP-A2M4CD8 for people with platinum resistant ovarian cancer; and SURPASS that is in phase I clinical trials in patients with head and neck, and urothelial cancers.

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