Investors Purchase High Volume of ImmunityBio Call Options (NASDAQ:IBRX)

ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 18,890 call options on the stock. Thisisanincreaseof283% compared to the average volume of 4,932 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ImmunityBio

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IBRX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ImmunityBio by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,344,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,237,000 after acquiring an additional 3,016,325 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of ImmunityBio by 682.7% in the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 3,442,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,813,000 after acquiring an additional 3,002,622 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in ImmunityBio during the 2nd quarter worth $7,854,000. Tang Capital Management LLC bought a new position in ImmunityBio during the 4th quarter worth $7,204,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in ImmunityBio by 605.9% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 2,714,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,171,000 after buying an additional 2,330,086 shares during the last quarter. 8.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ImmunityBio Stock Up 14.2%

Shares of IBRX opened at $2.82 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $2.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.82. ImmunityBio has a 52-week low of $1.83 and a 52-week high of $7.48. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.87 and a beta of 0.12.

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10). The business had revenue of $26.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.95 million. On average, equities analysts expect that ImmunityBio will post -0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on IBRX. Piper Sandler raised ImmunityBio from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $4.25 to $5.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 target price on shares of ImmunityBio in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, D. Boral Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of ImmunityBio in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.25.

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.