Iovance Biotherapeutics Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:IOVA)

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 13,815 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 56% compared to the average daily volume of 8,882 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iovance Biotherapeutics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arcataur Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in Iovance Biotherapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 169.1% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 11,568 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 7,269 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.03% of the company’s stock.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Trading Down 5.7%

NASDAQ IOVA opened at $5.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.44 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50 day moving average of $4.15 and a 200-day moving average of $3.60. Iovance Biotherapeutics has a 1-year low of $1.76 and a 1-year high of $5.64.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19). The company had revenue of $71.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.84 million. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 123.92% and a negative return on equity of 50.17%. Iovance Biotherapeutics’s quarterly revenue was up 44.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.36) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Iovance Biotherapeutics will post -0.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on IOVA shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Truist Financial upgraded Iovance Biotherapeutics to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Chardan Capital cut their price objective on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.43.

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.