Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Iovance Biotherapeutics shares jumped 26.7% after HC Wainwright raised its price target from $9 to $20 and reiterated a buy rating. The stock opened at $12.79 versus a prior close of $10.99 and later traded near $13.90.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with eight buy ratings, two holds, and one sell; the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $11.78.
• Institutional ownership stands at 77.03%, supported by new or increased positions from BlackRock, Invenomic Capital, Palo Alto Investors, Bank of America, and Dimensional Fund Advisors. The company’s latest quarterly revenue rose 65.7% year over year to $99.31 million, exceeding estimates.

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after HC Wainwright raised their price target on the stock from $9.00 to $20.00. The stock had previously closed at $10.99, but opened at $12.79. HC Wainwright currently has a buy rating on the stock. Iovance Biotherapeutics shares last traded at $13.8950, with a volume of 12,079,902 shares changing hands.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on IOVA. TD Cowen raised their price target on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Citizens Jmp raised their target price on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $6.00 target price on Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $11.78.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $153,744,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 11,959,505 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $32,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,897 shares during the last quarter. Palo Alto Investors LP bought a new position in Iovance Biotherapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $22,032,229. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $20,773,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 71.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,645,702 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $9,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,106,592 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.03% of the company's stock.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Trading Up 26.7%

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $7.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.20. The stock has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.87 and a beta of 0.83.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.02. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 40.51% and a negative net margin of 89.11%.The company had revenue of $99.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $87.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.33) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 65.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Company Profile

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing individualized cell therapies for patients with cancer. Its platform uses tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), immune cells collected from a patient's tumor, expanded in a manufacturing facility and returned to the patient to help recognize and attack cancer cells.

The company's lead product, Amtagvi (lifileucel), is an autologous TIL therapy approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for certain adults with unresectable or metastatic melanoma that has progressed following prior treatment.

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