Short Interest in Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INO) Grows By 19.6%

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INO) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,400,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the March 15th total of 5,350,000 shares. Approximately 17.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 851,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.5 days.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:INO opened at $1.74 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $1.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.98. The stock has a market cap of $63.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.44 and a beta of 1.84. Inovio Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $1.42 and a 12 month high of $13.44.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $0.18. The company had revenue of $0.12 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.03 million. Equities analysts forecast that Inovio Pharmaceuticals will post -4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Inovio Pharmaceuticals from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $3.00 target price on shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, January 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of INO. Deep Track Capital LP raised its stake in Inovio Pharmaceuticals by 72.9% during the fourth quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 3,119,162 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314,796 shares in the last quarter. Stonepine Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,922,000. AIGH Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,197,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Inovio Pharmaceuticals by 1,035.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 640,987 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,173,000 after buying an additional 584,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Inovio Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 628,505 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,150,000 after buying an additional 6,874 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.79% of the company’s stock.

About Inovio Pharmaceuticals

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biotechnology company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of DNA medicines to treat and protect people from diseases associated with human papillomavirus (HPV), cancer, and infectious diseases. Its DNA medicines platform uses precisely designed SynCon that identify and optimize the DNA sequence of the target antigen, as well as CELLECTRA smart devices technology that facilitates delivery of the DNA plasmids.