New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 5,141 Shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,021,824 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 5,141 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.40% of Iovance Biotherapeutics worth $8,307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 52.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 344,042 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,565,000 after acquiring an additional 118,133 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 41.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,643,155 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $12,026,000 after acquiring an additional 772,905 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 130,287 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after buying an additional 42,692 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 13.8% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 5,036,479 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $22,916,000 after buying an additional 609,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC lifted its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 107.3% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 371,850 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,692,000 after buying an additional 192,450 shares during the last quarter. 77.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Merrill A. Mcpeak acquired 250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.15 per share, with a total value of $2,287,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 320,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,929,372.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Trading Up 3.0 %

IOVA opened at $12.88 on Friday. Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $3.21 and a 12-month high of $18.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of -6.85 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $14.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.40.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $0.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.64) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Iovance Biotherapeutics

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc, a commercial-stage biotechnology company, develops and commercializes cell therapies using autologous tumor infiltrating lymphocyte for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and other solid tumor cancers in the United States. The company offers Amtagvi, a tumor-derived autologous T cell immunotherapy used to treat adult patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma; and Proleukin, an interleukin-2 product for the treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.