Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INO) Short Interest Up 19.6% in March

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INO - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,400,000 shares, a growth of 19.6% from the March 15th total of 5,350,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 851,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.5 days. Approximately 17.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Inovio Pharmaceuticals from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. HC Wainwright restated a "neutral" rating and set a $3.00 price objective on shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $12.20.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.8 %

INO stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $1.89. 79,190 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 578,058. The stock's fifty day moving average is $1.85 and its 200-day moving average is $2.92. The company has a market cap of $69.15 million, a P/E ratio of -0.47 and a beta of 1.84. Inovio Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $1.42 and a 52-week high of $13.44.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.87) by $0.18. The business had revenue of $0.12 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $0.03 million. Equities research analysts expect that Inovio Pharmaceuticals will post -4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Inovio Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals by 370.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 27,261 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 21,462 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals by 11.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 490,662 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,836,000 after acquiring an additional 51,414 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Inovio Pharmaceuticals by 282.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 34,003 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 25,116 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Inovio Pharmaceuticals by 6.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 621,631 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,594,000 after purchasing an additional 38,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Green Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in Inovio Pharmaceuticals by 103.2% in the 4th quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 65,446 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 33,232 shares during the last quarter. 26.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biotechnology company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of DNA medicines to treat and protect people from diseases associated with human papillomavirus (HPV), cancer, and infectious diseases. Its DNA medicines platform uses precisely designed SynCon that identify and optimize the DNA sequence of the target antigen, as well as CELLECTRA smart devices technology that facilitates delivery of the DNA plasmids.