Palo Alto Investors LP Acquires Shares of 5,296,209 Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. $IOVA

Key Points

• Palo Alto Investors LP acquired 5.3 million shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in the second quarter, valued at approximately $22 million and representing about 1.17% of the company. IOVA now accounts for roughly 3% of the fund’s portfolio.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but generally constructive: seven analysts rate IOVA a Buy, two Hold, and two Sell, with an average price target of $8.89. Recent target changes included increases from TD Cowen, UBS, and Citizens JMP.
• Iovance reported quarterly revenue of $198.6 million, substantially above the $87.8 million consensus estimate, while posting an adjusted loss of $0.11 per share. Shares opened at $8.26, compared with a 52-week range of $1.76 to $9.36.

Palo Alto Investors LP bought a new position in Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,296,209 shares of the biotechnology company's stock, valued at approximately $22,032,229,000. Iovance Biotherapeutics comprises approximately 3.0% of Palo Alto Investors LP's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Palo Alto Investors LP owned approximately 1.17% of Iovance Biotherapeutics as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Xponance LLC increased its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 24,288 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 3,950 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 324,098 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 4,618 shares during the last quarter. Orion Investment Co lifted its position in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 1,856,934 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $5,069,000 after acquiring an additional 5,150 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 46,812 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 5,563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 25,950 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 5,661 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IOVA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $4.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Chardan Capital reduced 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. Finally, Citizens Jmp boosted their target price on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Iovance Biotherapeutics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $8.89.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of IOVA opened at $8.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of -11.31 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.29. Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1.76 and a 1-year high of $9.36.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $198.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.83 million. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 40.51% and a negative net margin of 89.11%.Iovance Biotherapeutics's revenue was up 65.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.33) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -0.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Iovance Biotherapeutics

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.

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