Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) Trading Up 7.1% – Time to Buy?

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA)’s stock price was up 7.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $3.91 and last traded at $3.7150. Approximately 8,303,292 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 14,604,059 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on IOVA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $2.00 price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $2.00 to $4.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $5.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.88.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Stock Up 7.1%

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $3.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.74. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.31 and a beta of 0.76.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.04. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 148.41% and a negative return on equity of 54.54%. The company had revenue of $86.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.61 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -1.24 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iovance Biotherapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of IOVA. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,161,445 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,041,000 after purchasing an additional 6,851,486 shares in the last quarter. Palo Alto Investors LP lifted its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 122.1% during the third quarter. Palo Alto Investors LP now owns 7,618,132 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $16,531,000 after purchasing an additional 4,188,803 shares in the last quarter. HRT Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 1,078.3% during the fourth quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 4,356,010 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $11,891,000 after purchasing an additional 3,986,314 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 202.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,777,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,869,617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,207,079 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $74,275,000 after purchasing an additional 3,148,096 shares in the last quarter. 77.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Iovance Biotherapeutics

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company specializing in the development and commercialization of tumor‐infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) immunotherapies for the treatment of solid tumors. The company’s lead product candidate, lifileucel (formerly LN‐144), is an autologous TIL therapy in late‐stage clinical development for patients with advanced melanoma. Iovance’s pipeline also includes next‐generation TIL programs such as LN‐145 for cervical and other human papillomavirus (HPV)‐related cancers, as well as exploratory studies in head and neck, non‐small cell lung, gastric and other solid tumor indications.

Iovance’s TIL platform harnesses a patient’s own immune system by isolating, expanding and reinfusing tumor‐reactive lymphocytes.