Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) Shares Up 7.7% - What's Next?

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 7.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $7.99 and last traded at $7.97. 2,429,683 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 7,189,960 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IOVA has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $17.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.23 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a fifty day moving average of $8.96 and a 200 day moving average of $9.25.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $58.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.54 million. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 451.25% and a negative return on equity of 58.43%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.46) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -1.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Iovance Biotherapeutics

In related news, Director Ryan D. Maynard sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.06, for a total transaction of $503,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,500 shares in the company, valued at $75,450. This trade represents a 86.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 12.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Iovance Biotherapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 59.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,033,184 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $37,872,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496,941 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 9.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 100,229 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $979,000 after acquiring an additional 8,470 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics during the third quarter worth $188,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 118.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 604,584 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $5,677,000 after acquiring an additional 328,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 10.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 129,482 shares of the biotechnology company's stock valued at $1,216,000 after acquiring an additional 12,064 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.