Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) Shares Gap Up to $5.05

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $5.05, but opened at $5.54. Iovance Biotherapeutics shares last traded at $5.67, with a volume of 3,914,420 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $40.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 18th. HC Wainwright cut their price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $38.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research note on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $12.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $23.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.23.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Stock Up 11.3 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $4.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of -2.78 and a beta of 0.11.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.46) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $0.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.63) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Wayne P. Rothbaum purchased 5,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $5.30 per share, with a total value of $26,500,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,067,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,256,864.90. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Merrill A. Mcpeak bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.56 per share, with a total value of $55,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 248,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,382,399.48. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Wayne P. Rothbaum bought 5,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $5.30 per share, with a total value of $26,500,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 23,067,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $122,256,864.90. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iovance Biotherapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IOVA. Profund Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics during the first quarter worth $1,234,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its position in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 30.4% in the 1st quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 3,568,706 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $21,805,000 after buying an additional 832,974 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new position in Iovance Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,002,000. American International Group Inc. boosted its position in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 37.6% in the 2nd quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 100,136 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $705,000 after buying an additional 27,364 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 26.4% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 12,917 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $91,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.85% of the company’s stock.

About Iovance Biotherapeutics

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on developing and commercializing cancer immunotherapy products to harness the power of a patient's immune system to eradicate cancer cells. The company's lead product candidate is lifileucel that is in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and cervical cancer.