Short Interest in AVITA Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCEL) Grows By 25.9%

AVITA Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCEL) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,460,000 shares, a growth of 25.9% from the December 15th total of 1,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 132,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 11.0 days. Approximately 5.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of AVITA Medical

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RCEL. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AVITA Medical by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 594,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,373,000 after purchasing an additional 8,361 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of AVITA Medical by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 519,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,574,000 after buying an additional 11,997 shares during the last quarter. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new position in AVITA Medical during the third quarter valued at about $2,477,000. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in AVITA Medical by 32.7% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 89,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $958,000 after buying an additional 22,032 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in AVITA Medical by 340.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 37,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after buying an additional 28,979 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.66% of the company’s stock.

AVITA Medical Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ RCEL traded up $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $8.65. 178,976 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 181,736. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.48, a quick ratio of 3.37 and a current ratio of 3.73. AVITA Medical has a fifty-two week low of $7.51 and a fifty-two week high of $18.93. The business’s fifty day moving average is $12.18 and its 200 day moving average is $10.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.88 and a beta of 1.58.

AVITA Medical (NASDAQ:RCEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.62) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.41) by ($0.21). AVITA Medical had a negative net margin of 95.47% and a negative return on equity of 194.69%. The company had revenue of $19.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.34) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that AVITA Medical will post -2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on RCEL. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $12.00 target price (up from $9.00) on shares of AVITA Medical in a report on Friday, November 8th. Lake Street Capital cut their price objective on AVITA Medical from $20.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. D. Boral Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of AVITA Medical in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of AVITA Medical in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.00.

AVITA Medical Company Profile

AVITA Medical, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a regenerative medicine company in the United States and internationally. The company's lead product is the RECELL System, a cell harvesting device used for the treatment of thermal burn wounds, full-thickness skin defects, and repigmentation of stable depigmented vitiligo lesions.