Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) Hits New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $2.00 to $4.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Iovance Biotherapeutics traded as high as $4.38 and last traded at $4.29, with a volume of 9582041 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.26.

IOVA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Chardan Capital decreased their price target on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Iovance Biotherapeutics from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $5.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $2.00 target price on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.88.

Institutional Trading of Iovance Biotherapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IOVA. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,161,445 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $55,041,000 after buying an additional 6,851,486 shares during the period. Palo Alto Investors LP boosted its position in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 122.1% during the 3rd quarter. Palo Alto Investors LP now owns 7,618,132 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $16,531,000 after acquiring an additional 4,188,803 shares in the last quarter. HRT Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 1,078.3% during the 4th quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 4,356,010 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $11,891,000 after acquiring an additional 3,986,314 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 202.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,777,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $19,239,000 after acquiring an additional 3,869,617 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,207,079 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $74,275,000 after acquiring an additional 3,148,096 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.03% of the company’s stock.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Trading Up 7.5%

The company has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of -4.09 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $2.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.48.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.04. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 54.54% and a negative net margin of 148.41%.The company had revenue of $86.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.61 million. Equities analysts expect that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Company Profile

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company specializing in the development and commercialization of tumor‐infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) immunotherapies for the treatment of solid tumors. The company’s lead product candidate, lifileucel (formerly LN‐144), is an autologous TIL therapy in late‐stage clinical development for patients with advanced melanoma. Iovance’s pipeline also includes next‐generation TIL programs such as LN‐145 for cervical and other human papillomavirus (HPV)‐related cancers, as well as exploratory studies in head and neck, non‐small cell lung, gastric and other solid tumor indications.

Iovance’s TIL platform harnesses a patient’s own immune system by isolating, expanding and reinfusing tumor‐reactive lymphocytes.