Short Interest in Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) Declines By 9.6%

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 53,990,000 shares, a drop of 9.6% from the October 31st total of 59,730,000 shares. Currently, 21.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.6 days.

Insider Transactions at Iovance Biotherapeutics

In other news, Director Ryan D. Maynard sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.06, for a total transaction of $503,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,500 shares in the company, valued at $75,450. The trade was a 86.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 12.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Iovance Biotherapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IOVA. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $920,000. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $12,929,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 399.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 144,280 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,355,000 after buying an additional 115,387 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in Iovance Biotherapeutics during the second quarter worth about $661,000. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 65.5% in the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 28,022 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 11,091 shares in the last quarter. 77.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IOVA traded down $0.25 during trading on Monday, reaching $9.07. 4,515,350 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,292,093. Iovance Biotherapeutics has a 52-week low of $6.00 and a 52-week high of $18.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $9.82 and a 200-day moving average of $9.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.25 and a beta of 0.60.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $58.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.54 million. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 451.25% and a negative return on equity of 58.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.46) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Iovance Biotherapeutics will post -1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on IOVA shares. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $32.00 price objective on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group began coverage on Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised Iovance Biotherapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.33.

About Iovance Biotherapeutics

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.