UBS Group AG Sells 172,350 Shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. $IOVA

UBS Group AG cut its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) by 18.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 764,154 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 172,350 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics were worth $2,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $74,275,000 after purchasing an additional 3,148,096 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 85,490 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 6,640 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 164.8% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 33,357 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 20,758 shares in the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 47.1% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 49,914 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 15,992 shares in the last quarter. 77.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IOVA has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Iovance Biotherapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Chardan Capital dropped their price target on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Citizens Jmp upgraded 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $2.00 price objective on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.43.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Trading Up 6.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:IOVA opened at $4.37 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.60 and a beta of 0.69. Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $1.66 and a 12-month high of $5.63.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19). The business had revenue of $71.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.84 million. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 50.17% and a negative net margin of 123.92%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 44.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.36) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -0.63 EPS for the current year.

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.