Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) Stock Price Up 7.1% - Here's Why

Shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA - Get Free Report) shot up 7.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $1.91 and last traded at $1.90. 3,648,975 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 9,028,739 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.77.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on IOVA. UBS Group lowered shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $17.00 to $2.00 in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $30.00 to $10.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $5.00 to $4.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Baird R W lowered shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright decreased their price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $32.00 to $20.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Iovance Biotherapeutics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.22.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Price Performance

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $2.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $662.86 million, a P/E ratio of -1.59 and a beta of 0.85.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.25) by ($0.11). Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 49.71% and a negative net margin of 176.49%. The company had revenue of $49.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $83.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.42) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6795.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -1.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iovance Biotherapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,777,778 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $92,500,000 after acquiring an additional 243,438 shares during the period. Long Focus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 80.2% in the first quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 9,250,055 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $30,803,000 after purchasing an additional 4,118,055 shares in the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 8,991,573 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $66,538,000 after acquiring an additional 846,936 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,871,420 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $43,458,000 after purchasing an additional 222,425 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 202.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,777,344 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $19,239,000 after acquiring an additional 3,869,617 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.03% of the company's stock.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Company Profile

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.

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