Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) Trading Up 9.9% Following Analyst Upgrade

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA)’s stock price traded up 9.9% during trading on Wednesday after Citizens Jmp upgraded the stock from a market perform rating to a market outperform rating. Citizens Jmp now has a $5.00 price target on the stock. Iovance Biotherapeutics traded as high as $4.13 and last traded at $4.11. 11,445,895 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 18% from the average session volume of 13,949,900 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.74.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on IOVA. Barclays increased their price objective on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $2.00 price objective on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Chardan Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.63.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iovance Biotherapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 51.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,161,445 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,041,000 after buying an additional 6,851,486 shares in the last quarter. Palo Alto Investors LP lifted its holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 122.1% during the third quarter. Palo Alto Investors LP now owns 7,618,132 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $16,531,000 after purchasing an additional 4,188,803 shares in the last quarter. HRT Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 1,078.3% during the fourth 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 last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 202.8% in the first 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 valued at $19,239,000 after purchasing an additional 3,869,617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,207,079 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $74,275,000 after buying an additional 3,148,096 shares during the period. 77.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of -3.80 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.46.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $86.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.61 million. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 148.41% and a negative return on equity of 54.54%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -1.24 earnings per share for the current 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.