ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) Trading Down 6% – Here’s What Happened

ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) fell 6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $5.56 and last traded at $5.5950. 10,161,692 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 53,490,465 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on IBRX shares. BTIG Research upped their target price on ImmunityBio from $6.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of ImmunityBio from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on ImmunityBio from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. D. Boral Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of ImmunityBio in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of ImmunityBio from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ImmunityBio has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.80.

ImmunityBio Stock Down 1.0%

The company’s fifty day moving average is $2.90 and its 200 day moving average is $2.62. The firm has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.33 and a beta of 0.03.

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

Insider Activity at ImmunityBio

In related news, Director Barry J. Simon sold 151,967 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 3,091,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,259,548.80. This represents a 4.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christobel Selecky sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.51, for a total value of $187,750.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 226,967 shares of company stock worth $1,531,912 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 69.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ImmunityBio

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IBRX. Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new position in ImmunityBio in the 2nd quarter valued at $20,497,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of ImmunityBio in the second quarter worth $7,854,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in ImmunityBio by 34.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,777,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487,849 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in ImmunityBio in the second quarter valued at about $70,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in ImmunityBio by 2.7% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 239,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 6,314 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.58% of the company’s stock.

About ImmunityBio

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.