Autolus Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:AUTL) Short Interest Up 12.4% in January

Autolus Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ:AUTL) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,630,000 shares, a growth of 12.4% from the December 31st total of 7,680,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,830,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AUTL. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Autolus Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $7.00 to $7.60 in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of Autolus Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Autolus Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Autolus Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $10.40.

Autolus Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of AUTL stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $2.13. The company had a trading volume of 681,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,087,673. Autolus Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $2.07 and a 1-year high of $7.37. The firm has a market cap of $565.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.76 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $2.53 and a 200 day moving average of $3.43.

Autolus Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AUTL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by ($0.10). During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.26) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Autolus Therapeutics will post -0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Autolus Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AUTL. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Autolus Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Autolus Therapeutics by 113.7% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 813,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,829,000 after acquiring an additional 432,503 shares in the last quarter. Herbst Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Autolus Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $91,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Autolus Therapeutics by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 41,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 3,740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Autolus Therapeutics by 63.8% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 38,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 14,959 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.83% of the company’s stock.

About Autolus Therapeutics

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.