Piper Sandler Upgrades ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) to Overweight

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) was upgraded by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $5.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $4.25. Piper Sandler’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 88.68% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on IBRX. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of ImmunityBio in a report on Monday, May 12th. D. Boral Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of ImmunityBio in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ImmunityBio has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.25.

ImmunityBio Stock Down 8.6%

Shares of NASDAQ IBRX opened at $2.65 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $2.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.25. ImmunityBio has a twelve month low of $1.83 and a twelve month high of $7.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.88 and a beta of 0.33.

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 12th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.12) by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $16.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.50 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ImmunityBio will post -0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of ImmunityBio

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IBRX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ImmunityBio by 17.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,344,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,237,000 after buying an additional 3,016,325 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in ImmunityBio by 682.7% in the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 3,442,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,813,000 after purchasing an additional 3,002,622 shares during the period. Tang Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in ImmunityBio in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,204,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ImmunityBio by 605.9% during the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,714,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,171,000 after purchasing an additional 2,330,086 shares during the period. Finally, Altium Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of ImmunityBio in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,714,000. 8.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About ImmunityBio

ImmunityBio, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in developing therapies and vaccines that bolster the natural immune system to defeat cancers and infectious diseases. Its platforms for the development of biologic product candidates include antibody-cytokine fusion proteins; DNA, RNA, and recombinant protein vaccines; and cell therapies.