Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 48,980,000 shares, a growth of 5.6% from the March 31st total of 46,380,000 shares. Approximately 22.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,870,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.5 days.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IOVA opened at $11.78 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $14.14 and a 200-day moving average of $9.30. The firm has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.27 and a beta of 0.62. Iovance Biotherapeutics has a twelve month low of $3.21 and a twelve month high of $18.33.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $0.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.64) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Iovance Biotherapeutics will post -1.4 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on IOVA. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Chardan Capital boosted their target price on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $29.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Merrill A. Mcpeak purchased 250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.15 per share, with a total value of $2,287,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 320,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,929,372.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 10.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Iovance Biotherapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IOVA. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 23.5% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 19,857 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 3,777 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 64,863 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 8,522 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 357.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 87,595 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 68,436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 853,944 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $3,885,000 after purchasing an additional 56,160 shares in the last quarter. 77.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.