Traders Purchase Large Volume of ImmunityBio Call Options (NASDAQ:IBRX)

ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders acquired 51,571 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 50% compared to the typical volume of 34,323 call options.

ImmunityBio Stock Down 4.0%

NASDAQ IBRX opened at $8.47 on Friday. ImmunityBio has a 52 week low of $1.83 and a 52 week high of $12.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.29 and a beta of -0.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $7.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.03.

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $38.29 million during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ImmunityBio will post -0.92 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on IBRX shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of ImmunityBio in a research note on Monday, December 29th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of ImmunityBio from $10.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of ImmunityBio in a report on Monday, February 23rd. D. Boral Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of ImmunityBio in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $12.00 target price (up from $7.00) on shares of ImmunityBio in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ImmunityBio has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at ImmunityBio

In related news, Director Christobel Selecky sold 50,000 shares of ImmunityBio stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Barry J. Simon sold 165,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.25, for a total value of $1,691,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,925,821 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,989,665.25. This trade represents a 5.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 501,967 shares of company stock valued at $4,466,412 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 69.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IBRX. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in ImmunityBio in the 2nd quarter worth $20,497,000. Heights Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in ImmunityBio during the third quarter valued at about $16,152,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in ImmunityBio by 26.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,655,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,032,000 after purchasing an additional 5,837,898 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in ImmunityBio by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,455,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,582,000 after buying an additional 5,139,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ImmunityBio by 439.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 6,152,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,182,000 after buying an additional 5,012,001 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.58% of the company’s stock.

ImmunityBio Company Profile

ImmunityBio, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company specializing in the development of novel immunotherapies for cancer and infectious diseases. The company’s research platform centers on harnessing the power of the human immune system—through engineered T cells, natural killer (NK) cells, cytokine superagonists and viral-vectored vaccines—to target and eliminate diseased cells across a range of indications.

Among its lead assets is Anktiva (formerly known as N-803), an interleukin-15 superagonist designed to stimulate NK and T cell activity.