ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) Shares Up 11% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Shares of ImmunityBio jumped 11% on Monday to $9.40 (intraday high $9.54) on about 26.5 million shares traded—below the stock's average session volume—giving the company a market cap of roughly $9.64 billion.
• Several analysts raised ratings and price targets (e.g., HC Wainwright to $15, BTIG $13, Piper Sandler $12), leaving a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.40.
• Company insiders have been selling recently—including Director Barry J. Simon (165,000 shares at $10.25) and Christobel Selecky (50,000 shares at $5.00)—with insiders offloading about 501,967 shares (~$4.47M) in the past 90 days, though insiders still own 69.48% of the stock.

Shares of ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX - Get Free Report) shot up 11% on Monday . The company traded as high as $9.54 and last traded at $9.40. 26,495,297 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 39,633,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on IBRX shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of ImmunityBio in a research note on Monday, December 29th. HC Wainwright upped their target price on ImmunityBio from $10.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. BTIG Research started coverage on ImmunityBio in a report on Thursday, March 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $13.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $12.00 price target (up from $7.00) on shares of ImmunityBio in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of ImmunityBio from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $14.40.

ImmunityBio Trading Up 10.7%

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.68 and a beta of -0.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.05.

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $38.29 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts forecast that ImmunityBio, Inc. will post -0.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Barry J. Simon sold 165,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.25, for a total transaction of $1,691,250.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,925,821 shares of the company's stock, valued at $29,989,665.25. This trade represents a 5.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Christobel Selecky sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 501,967 shares of company stock worth $4,466,412 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 69.48% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ImmunityBio

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IBRX. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ImmunityBio by 193.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 44,448 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 29,297 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in ImmunityBio by 21.4% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 80,128 shares of the company's stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 14,105 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in ImmunityBio by 1,104.4% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,815 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 12,668 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in ImmunityBio by 34.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,777,269 shares of the company's stock worth $15,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey boosted its position in ImmunityBio by 48.0% in the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 53,754 shares of the company's stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 17,443 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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