Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Iovance Biotherapeutics Call Options (NASDAQ:IOVA)

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 17,926 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 135% compared to the average daily volume of 7,634 call options.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Trading Up 20.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ IOVA traded up $1.62 during trading on Friday, reaching $9.56. 14,809,274 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,738,854. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.79. The stock has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.44 and a beta of 0.63. Iovance Biotherapeutics has a 12-month low of $3.21 and a 12-month high of $18.33.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.34) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.03. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 71.45% and a negative net margin of 23,615.70%. The firm had revenue of $31.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.59 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.47) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12969.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Iovance Biotherapeutics will post -1.39 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on IOVA shares. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a report on Friday, June 28th. Piper Sandler lowered Iovance Biotherapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. JMP Securities reduced their target price on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Iovance Biotherapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $23.64.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iovance Biotherapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in Iovance Biotherapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 1,237.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 5,003 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 4,629 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 1,227.8% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,059 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 4,678 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 284.0% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,541 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 5,577 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 256.6% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,723 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 6,277 shares during the last quarter. 77.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.