ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) Shares Up 6.6% – What’s Next?

ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX) shares traded up 6.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $6.44 and last traded at $6.3020. 16,996,254 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 51,416,004 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IBRX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of ImmunityBio in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of ImmunityBio from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of ImmunityBio from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. D. Boral Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of ImmunityBio in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their target price on ImmunityBio from $6.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ImmunityBio currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.80.

ImmunityBio Stock Up 5.8%

The company has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.24 and a beta of 0.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $3.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.69.

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $32.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.88 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ImmunityBio, Inc. will post -0.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at ImmunityBio

In other news, Director Christobel Selecky sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.51, for a total value of $187,750.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Barry J. Simon sold 151,967 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.20, for a total transaction of $1,094,162.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,091,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,259,548.80. This represents a 4.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 226,967 shares of company stock valued at $1,531,912 in the last quarter. 69.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ImmunityBio

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of ImmunityBio in the second quarter valued at approximately $20,497,000. Heights Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in ImmunityBio in the third quarter worth $16,152,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in ImmunityBio by 26.8% in the 3rd 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. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in ImmunityBio in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,854,000. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its position in shares of ImmunityBio by 53.7% during the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 5,297,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,851,854 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 8.58% of the company’s stock.

About ImmunityBio

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.