Cellectis S.A. (NASDAQ:CLLS) Short Interest Up 41.7% in December

Cellectis S.A. (NASDAQ:CLLS) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 400,576 shares, an increase of 41.7% from the December 15th total of 282,762 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 111,087 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 111,087 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Cellectis Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CLLS traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $4.07. 72,883 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 74,712. Cellectis has a 1-year low of $1.10 and a 1-year high of $5.48. The company has a market capitalization of $226.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.02 and a beta of 2.82. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 1.49.

Cellectis (NASDAQ:CLLS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $37.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.22 million. Cellectis had a negative return on equity of 51.22% and a negative net margin of 58.06%. Sell-side analysts expect that Cellectis will post -0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Cellectis

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Cellectis by 228.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,722,664 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $5,856,000 after purchasing an additional 3,284,409 shares in the last quarter. B Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Cellectis by 0.8% during the third quarter. B Group Inc. now owns 3,281,501 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,352,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares in the last quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cellectis in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $633,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cellectis by 61.9% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 57,740 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 22,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cellectis by 132.9% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 46,377 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 26,461 shares during the period. 63.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CLLS shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “positive” rating and set a $4.00 price target on shares of Cellectis in a report on Monday, October 20th. Barclays increased their target price on Cellectis from $4.00 to $8.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Cellectis in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Clear Str upgraded Cellectis to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cellectis to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.00.

Cellectis Company Profile

Cellectis is a clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of gene‐edited cell therapies for oncology. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Paris, France, the company also maintains operations in New York City and Raleigh, North Carolina. Cellectis applies its proprietary TALEN genome editing platform to engineer allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T‐cell (CAR‐T) candidates designed to target blood cancers and solid tumors.

The company’s core business activities encompass the discovery, development and manufacturing of off‐the‐shelf immunotherapies.