Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) Trading Up 7.1% – Time to Buy?

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) shares rose 7.1% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $3.91 and last traded at $3.7150. Approximately 8,303,292 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 14,604,059 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IOVA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Chardan Capital dropped their price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research note on Monday. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $5.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.88.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.31 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $3.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.74.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.04. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 148.41% and a negative return on equity of 54.54%. The firm had revenue of $86.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.61 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -1.24 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iovance Biotherapeutics

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 115.2% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 856,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,473,000 after buying an additional 458,540 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 27.1% in the third quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 10,541,608 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $22,875,000 after buying an additional 2,246,945 shares during the period. Mirador Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,118,000. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 69.5% in the third quarter. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB now owns 1,097,827 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,382,000 after buying an additional 450,000 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 65.1% in the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 482,975 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,048,000 after buying an additional 190,522 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.03% of the company’s stock.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Company Profile

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.