ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) Shares Down 6.4% – Here’s Why

ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) dropped 6.4% on Monday. The company traded as low as $8.72 and last traded at $8.5880. Approximately 3,109,134 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 20,521,498 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IBRX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of ImmunityBio from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of ImmunityBio in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of ImmunityBio in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of ImmunityBio in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.00.

ImmunityBio Stock Up 4.2%

The company has a market cap of $9.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.04 and a beta of 0.02. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.99.

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $51.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.70 million. As a group, research analysts expect that ImmunityBio, Inc. will post -0.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at ImmunityBio

In related news, Director Cheryl Cohen sold 81,056 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.50, for a total value of $851,088.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 100,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,053,244.50. This represents a 44.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Barry J. Simon sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.75, for a total transaction of $268,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,777,788 shares in the company, valued at $29,861,221. This represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 66.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ImmunityBio

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ImmunityBio by 29.4% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 34,083,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,399,000 after acquiring an additional 7,736,819 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of ImmunityBio by 20.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 21,398,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,343,000 after acquiring an additional 3,690,335 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of ImmunityBio during the 2nd quarter valued at about $19,125,000. SEB Asset Management AB bought a new stake in ImmunityBio in the first quarter valued at about $18,770,000. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in ImmunityBio by 923.5% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,648,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,644,000 after acquiring an additional 1,487,482 shares during the period. 8.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ImmunityBio

ImmunityBio, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing immunotherapies designed to activate and strengthen the body’s immune response against cancer and infectious diseases. The company’s approach combines immune-system modulators, cellular therapies, vaccines and other technologies intended to address multiple stages of the disease-treatment process.

Its lead product, Anktiva (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln, also known as N-803), is an interleukin-15 receptor agonist designed to stimulate natural killer cells and T cells.