Stock Traders Buy High Volume of ImmunityBio Call Options (NASDAQ:IBRX)

ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 9,749 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 125% compared to the average volume of 4,330 call options.

ImmunityBio Stock Performance

NASDAQ IBRX traded up $1.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $5.32. 64,715,360 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,749,298. ImmunityBio has a 1-year low of $1.62 and a 1-year high of $10.53. The company has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.42 and a beta of 1.02. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $3.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.35.

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.17) by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.53 million. Equities research analysts expect that ImmunityBio will post -0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ImmunityBio

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ImmunityBio by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,539,590 shares of the company's stock worth $72,708,000 after purchasing an additional 211,065 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of ImmunityBio by 380.8% during the first quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 945,720 shares of the company's stock worth $5,079,000 after purchasing an additional 749,041 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of ImmunityBio by 37.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 621,536 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,928,000 after purchasing an additional 170,742 shares in the last quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of ImmunityBio by 8.9% during the second quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 482,549 shares of the company's stock worth $3,050,000 after acquiring an additional 39,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in ImmunityBio by 106.3% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 313,542 shares of the company's stock worth $1,684,000 after purchasing an additional 161,530 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.58% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on IBRX. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on ImmunityBio from $6.00 to $4.75 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. EF Hutton Acquisition Co. I upgraded shares of ImmunityBio to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday.

ImmunityBio Company Profile

ImmunityBio, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, engages in developing therapies and vaccines that bolster the natural immune system to defeat cancers and infectious diseases. Its platforms for the development of biologic product candidates include antibody-cytokine fusion proteins; DNA, RNA, and recombinant protein vaccines; and cell therapies.