ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling

ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $6.48, but opened at $6.27. ImmunityBio shares last traded at $6.1450, with a volume of 36,049,692 shares changing hands.

Specifically, Director Christobel Selecky sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.51, for a total value of $187,750.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Christobel Selecky sold 50,000 shares of ImmunityBio stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In other ImmunityBio 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 completion of the sale, the director directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on IBRX. Piper Sandler raised their target price on ImmunityBio from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of ImmunityBio from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. D. Boral Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of ImmunityBio in a research note on Tuesday. BTIG Research increased their target price on shares of ImmunityBio from $6.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of ImmunityBio in a report on Monday, December 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ImmunityBio has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.40.

ImmunityBio Trading Down 12.1%

The company’s 50-day moving average is $2.65 and its 200 day moving average is $2.55. The firm has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a PE ratio of -15.73 and a beta of 0.03.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ImmunityBio

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ImmunityBio during the second quarter worth approximately $20,497,000. Heights Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in ImmunityBio in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $16,152,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ImmunityBio by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,655,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,032,000 after buying an additional 5,837,898 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of ImmunityBio during the 2nd quarter valued at $7,854,000. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of ImmunityBio by 53.7% in the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 5,297,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,851,854 shares during the last quarter. 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.