Autolus Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:AUTL) Short Interest Up 22.1% in December

Autolus Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:AUTL) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,680,000 shares, a growth of 22.1% from the November 30th total of 6,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,750,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AUTL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Autolus Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $7.00 to $7.60 in a report on Monday, November 18th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Autolus Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Autolus Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Autolus Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autolus Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AUTL. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Autolus Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Autolus Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Autolus Therapeutics by 2,659.7% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 15,293 shares in the last quarter. Herbst Group LLC acquired a new stake in Autolus Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $91,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Autolus Therapeutics by 63.8% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 38,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,000 after purchasing an additional 14,959 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.83% of the company’s stock.

Autolus Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AUTL traded up $0.05 on Tuesday, hitting $2.26. 412,017 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,489,316. The stock has a market capitalization of $601.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.87 and a beta of 1.98. Autolus Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $2.07 and a 52 week high of $7.45. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $3.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.69.

Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.31) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by ($0.10). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.26) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Autolus Therapeutics will post -0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Autolus Therapeutics Company Profile

Autolus Therapeutics plc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, develops T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company's clinical-stage programs include obecabtagene autoleucel (AUTO1), a CD19-targeting programmed T cell investigational therapy that is in Phase 1b/2 clinical trial for the treatment of adult ALL; AUTO1/22, which is in a Phase 1 clinical trial in pediatric patients with relapsed or refractory ALL; AUTO4, a programmed T cell investigational therapy for the treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma targeting TRBC1 and TRBC2; AUTO6NG, a programmed T cell investigational therapy targeting GD2 in development for the treatment of neuroblastoma; and AUTO8, a product candidate to treat multiple myeloma.