ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) Trading 6.2% Higher – Here’s Why

ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX)’s stock price rose 6.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $8.30 and last traded at $8.1990. Approximately 2,525,009 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 21,301,471 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.72.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of ImmunityBio in a research note on Friday, July 10th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of ImmunityBio in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of ImmunityBio in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ImmunityBio presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.20.

ImmunityBio Stock Up 5.7%

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $7.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.89. The company has a market cap of $8.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.43 and a beta of 0.04.

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $51.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.70 million. Analysts expect that ImmunityBio, Inc. will post -0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ImmunityBio news, Director Cheryl Cohen sold 131,210 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.50, for a total value of $1,246,495.00. Following the sale, the director owned 125,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,191,167. This trade represents a 51.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Christobel Selecky sold 159,478 shares of ImmunityBio stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total value of $1,438,491.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 35,064 shares in the company, valued at approximately $316,277.28. This represents a 81.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 412,410 shares of company stock valued at $3,753,442. Insiders own 66.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ImmunityBio

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new position in ImmunityBio in the second quarter valued at about $1,287,000. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new position in ImmunityBio in the first quarter valued at about $18,770,000. Winning Points Advisors LLC bought a new position in ImmunityBio during the fourth quarter worth about $1,430,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of ImmunityBio by 29.4% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 34,083,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,399,000 after acquiring an additional 7,736,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in ImmunityBio by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,777,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,899,000 after acquiring an additional 5,122,052 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.58% of the company’s stock.

About ImmunityBio

ImmunityBio, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing immunotherapies and other treatments designed to activate the immune system against cancer and infectious diseases. The company’s platform combines biologics, cell therapies, vaccines and other approaches intended to generate durable immune responses.

Its lead product, ANKTIVA (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln), is an interleukin-15 receptor agonist designed to stimulate natural killer cells and T cells.