ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) Trading Down 5.2% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Shares fell 5.2% intraday to about $8.01, with 24.2 million shares traded—roughly 44% below the stock's average session volume.
• Wall Street is mostly bullish: six Buy ratings versus one Sell, a consensus of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.60, with several firms recently raising targets.
• Insiders have sold about 501,967 shares (~$4.47M) in the past three months despite owning ~69.5% of the company; ImmunityBio has a market cap of $8.24B and a negative PE of -21.08.

ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX - Get Free Report) shares traded down 5.2% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $7.77 and last traded at $8.01. 24,231,761 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 42,891,980 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. D. Boral Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of ImmunityBio in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of ImmunityBio in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of ImmunityBio in a report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $12.00 target price (up from $7.00) on shares of ImmunityBio in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price target on ImmunityBio from $10.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ImmunityBio has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $13.60.

ImmunityBio Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a PE ratio of -21.08 and a beta of -0.04. The company's 50-day moving average price is $6.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.67.

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $38.29 million during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ImmunityBio, Inc. will post -0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at ImmunityBio

In related news, Director Christobel Selecky sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Barry J. Simon sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.01, for a total transaction of $900,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,850,821 shares in the company, valued at $34,238,360.21. The trade was a 2.56% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 501,967 shares of company stock valued at $4,466,412 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 69.48% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ImmunityBio

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IBRX. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co purchased a new stake in ImmunityBio in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of ImmunityBio by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 182,836 shares of the company's stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 23,353 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of ImmunityBio by 69.7% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 333,149 shares of the company's stock valued at $660,000 after buying an additional 136,858 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ImmunityBio in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ImmunityBio in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other 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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