Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) Short Interest Up 9.2% in August

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 30,070,000 shares, a growth of 9.2% from the August 15th total of 27,530,000 shares. Currently, 14.7% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,880,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.2 days.

Insider Transactions at Iovance Biotherapeutics

In other news, Director Wayne P. Rothbaum bought 5,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 15th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $5.30 per share, with a total value of $26,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,067,333 shares in the company, valued at $122,256,864.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MHR Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,661,000. Perceptive Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 53.8% during the first quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 15,339,735 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $93,726,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367,955 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 71.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,770,751 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $129,949,000 after purchasing an additional 4,925,025 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 36.5% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,001,791 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $119,693,000 after purchasing an additional 4,545,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 374.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,969,869 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $31,757,000 after buying an additional 3,921,869 shares in the last quarter. 81.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of IOVA stock opened at $5.96 on Tuesday. Iovance Biotherapeutics has a 1-year low of $4.41 and a 1-year high of $10.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.92.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.81) by $0.34. The company had revenue of $0.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.63) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Iovance Biotherapeutics will post -1.87 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $40.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $23.00 to $20.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $27.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. Finally, Chardan Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Iovance Biotherapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.54.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Company Profile

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, focuses on developing and commercializing cancer immunotherapy products to harness the power of a patient's immune system to eradicate cancer cells. The company's lead product candidate is lifileucel that is in Phase II clinical trial for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and cervical cancer.