Iovance Biotherapeutics Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:IOVA)

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors acquired 21,357 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 75% compared to the typical volume of 12,229 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on IOVA. Barclays upped their price objective on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $6.00 price target on Iovance Biotherapeutics in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $4.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Iovance Biotherapeutics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.11.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Stock Up 1.6%

NASDAQ IOVA traded up $0.15 on Thursday, reaching $10.03. The company had a trading volume of 19,755,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,486,382. Iovance Biotherapeutics has a 52 week low of $1.76 and a 52 week high of $10.98. The stock has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.77 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $6.65 and its 200-day moving average is $4.86.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $99.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.83 million. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 40.51% and a negative net margin of 89.11%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 65.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.33) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Iovance Biotherapeutics will post -0.49 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iovance Biotherapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 5.4% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 32,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 52.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 280,048 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,165,000 after buying an additional 95,933 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 76.5% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 190,035 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $791,000 after buying an additional 82,338 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Iovance Biotherapeutics during the second quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 12.0% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 222,340 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $925,000 after acquiring an additional 23,800 shares during the period. 77.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Company Profile

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing individualized cell therapies for patients with cancer. Its platform uses tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), immune cells collected from a patient’s tumor, expanded in a manufacturing facility and returned to the patient to help recognize and attack cancer cells.

The company’s lead product, Amtagvi (lifileucel), is an autologous TIL therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for certain adults with unresectable or metastatic melanoma that has progressed following prior treatment.