Investors Purchase High Volume of Iovance Biotherapeutics Call Options (NASDAQ:IOVA)

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors bought 20,884 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 94% compared to the typical volume of 10,787 call options.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Stock Performance

Iovance Biotherapeutics stock opened at $4.24 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $6.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.56. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of -2.85 and a beta of 0.53. Iovance Biotherapeutics has a twelve month low of $3.62 and a twelve month high of $18.24.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.26) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26). The business had revenue of $73.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.17 million. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 451.25% and a negative return on equity of 58.43%. Equities analysts anticipate that Iovance Biotherapeutics will post -1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IOVA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $7.50 to $6.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.60.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iovance Biotherapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Man Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,871,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,927,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $11,568,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 59.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,033,184 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $37,872,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,941 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $8,365,000. 77.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Iovance Biotherapeutics

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc, a commercial-stage biotechnology company, develops and commercializes cell therapies using autologous tumor infiltrating lymphocyte for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and other solid tumor cancers in the United States. The company offers Amtagvi, a tumor-derived autologous T cell immunotherapy used to treat adult patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma; and Proleukin, an interleukin-2 product for the treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.