ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $14.20.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 target price on shares of ImmunityBio in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of ImmunityBio in a research report on Friday, July 10th. D. Boral Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of ImmunityBio in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of ImmunityBio in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd.

Insider Transactions at ImmunityBio

In related news, Director Barry J. Simon sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.88, for a total transaction of $197,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,802,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,085,969.44. This trade represents a 0.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Christobel Selecky sold 159,478 shares of ImmunityBio stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total value of $1,438,491.56. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 35,064 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $316,277.28. The trade was a 81.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 435,443 shares of company stock worth $3,918,819 over the last quarter. 66.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ImmunityBio

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IBRX. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of ImmunityBio by 45.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,455,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,582,000 after acquiring an additional 5,139,890 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $64,899,000 after purchasing an additional 5,122,052 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ImmunityBio by 439.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,152,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,182,000 after purchasing an additional 5,012,001 shares during the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB bought a new position in ImmunityBio during the first quarter valued at approximately $18,770,000. Finally, Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,851,854 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.58% of the company’s stock.

ImmunityBio Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IBRX opened at $7.10 on Friday. ImmunityBio has a 1-year low of $1.95 and a 1-year high of $12.43. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $7.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $7.35. The company has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a PE ratio of -8.35 and a beta of 0.01.

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.62) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.54). The company had revenue of $44.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.07 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ImmunityBio will post -0.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.