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

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) shares gapped up before the market opened 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 traded.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a report on Friday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $6.00 price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.78.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iovance Biotherapeutics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 5.4% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 32,957 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 52.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 280,048 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,165,000 after purchasing an additional 95,933 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 76.5% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 190,035 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 82,338 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Iovance Biotherapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 222,340 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $925,000 after purchasing an additional 23,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.03% of the company’s stock.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Trading Up 26.7%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $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) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $99.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.83 million. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 40.51% and a negative net margin of 89.11%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 65.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.33) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Iovance Biotherapeutics

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.