Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) Trading Up 5.5% – Should You Buy?

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) shares shot up 5.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $10.66 and last traded at $10.7510. Approximately 5,916,749 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 15,495,088 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citizens Jmp raised their price target on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research report on Friday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $4.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $6.00 target price on Iovance Biotherapeutics in a report on Friday, August 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.56.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average is $7.25 and its 200-day moving average is $5.08. The company has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a PE ratio of -14.68 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics in the second quarter worth $153,744,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 11,959,505 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417,897 shares during the last quarter. Palo Alto Investors LP bought a new position in Iovance Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth about $22,032,229. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $20,773,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 71.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,645,702 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $9,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,592 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.03% of the company’s stock.

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.