Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) Shares Up 7.7% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) shot up 7.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $7.99 and last traded at $7.97. 2,429,683 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 7,189,960 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IOVA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group started coverage on Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.00.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Stock Down 1.8 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $8.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.13 and a beta of 0.57.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by $0.03. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 58.43% and a negative net margin of 451.25%. The business had revenue of $58.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $53.54 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.46) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ryan D. Maynard sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.06, for a total value of $503,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,450. The trade was a 86.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 12.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 1,237.7% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 5,003 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 4,629 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $58,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 754.0% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 8,813 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 7,781 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Iovance Biotherapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $89,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 31.4% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,978 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 2,624 shares in the last quarter. 77.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Company Profile

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc, a commercial-stage biotechnology company, develops and commercializes cell therapies using autologous tumor infiltrating lymphocyte for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and other solid tumor cancers in the United States. The company offers Amtagvi, a tumor-derived autologous T cell immunotherapy used to treat adult patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma; and Proleukin, an interleukin-2 product for the treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.