Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) Shares Up 6.8% – Still a Buy?

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA)’s share price rose 6.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $4.25 and last traded at $4.1980. 18,721,570 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 26% from the average session volume of 14,846,433 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.93.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on IOVA. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Chardan Capital cut their price objective on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Iovance Biotherapeutics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.43.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Trading Down 1.7%

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $4.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.54. The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.91 and a beta of 0.70.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.19). Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 50.17% and a negative net margin of 123.92%.The business had revenue of $71.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.36) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 44.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -0.62 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iovance Biotherapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IOVA. Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 100.9% in the 4th quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 1,034,544 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,824,000 after acquiring an additional 519,519 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 759,522 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $2,073,000 after purchasing an additional 152,312 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,207,079 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $74,275,000 after purchasing an additional 3,148,096 shares during the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 149.7% during the 4th quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 260,660 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $712,000 after purchasing an additional 156,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in Iovance Biotherapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $532,000. 77.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Iovance Biotherapeutics

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company specializing in the development and commercialization of tumor‐infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) immunotherapies for the treatment of solid tumors. The company’s lead product candidate, lifileucel (formerly LN‐144), is an autologous TIL therapy in late‐stage clinical development for patients with advanced melanoma. Iovance’s pipeline also includes next‐generation TIL programs such as LN‐145 for cervical and other human papillomavirus (HPV)‐related cancers, as well as exploratory studies in head and neck, non‐small cell lung, gastric and other solid tumor indications.

Iovance’s TIL platform harnesses a patient’s own immune system by isolating, expanding and reinfusing tumor‐reactive lymphocytes.