ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) Shares Up 6.6% – Here’s Why

ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX)’s stock price traded up 6.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $6.44 and last traded at $6.3020. 16,996,254 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 51,416,004 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.91.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on IBRX shares. D. Boral Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of ImmunityBio in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on ImmunityBio from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of ImmunityBio from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. BTIG Research raised their price objective on ImmunityBio from $6.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of ImmunityBio from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ImmunityBio currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $11.80.

ImmunityBio Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.28 and a beta of 0.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $3.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.67.

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $32.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.88 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ImmunityBio, Inc. will post -0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at ImmunityBio

In related news, Director Barry J. Simon sold 151,967 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.20, for a total value of $1,094,162.40. Following the sale, the director owned 3,091,604 shares in the company, valued at $22,259,548.80. This represents a 4.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Christobel Selecky sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.51, for a total value of $187,750.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 226,967 shares of company stock worth $1,531,912 over the last three months. 69.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ImmunityBio

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ImmunityBio by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,777,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,899,000 after purchasing an additional 5,122,052 shares during the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new stake in ImmunityBio in the second quarter valued at $20,497,000. Heights Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ImmunityBio in the 3rd quarter valued at about $16,152,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ImmunityBio by 34.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,777,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487,849 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of ImmunityBio by 53.7% during the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 5,297,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,851,854 shares during the period. 8.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ImmunityBio Company Profile

ImmunityBio, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in the development of novel immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases. The company’s research platform centers on harnessing the power of the human immune system—through engineered T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, cytokine superagonists and viral-vectored vaccines—to target and eliminate diseased cells across a range of indications.

Among its lead assets is Anktiva (formerly known as N-803), an interleukin-15 superagonist designed to stimulate NK and T cell activity.