Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 56,920,000 shares, an increase of 5.4% from the November 15th total of 53,990,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 6,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 9.3 days. Approximately 23.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of IOVA stock opened at $7.83 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of -5.25 and a beta of 0.55. The business’s fifty day moving average is $9.63 and its 200-day moving average is $9.35. Iovance Biotherapeutics has a 1 year low of $6.70 and a 1 year high of $18.33.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.28) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by $0.03. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 58.43% and a negative net margin of 451.25%. The firm had revenue of $58.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.54 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.46) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Iovance Biotherapeutics will post -1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on IOVA. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group started coverage on Iovance Biotherapeutics in a report on Thursday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $17.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Iovance Biotherapeutics

In other news, Director Ryan D. Maynard sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.06, for a total transaction of $503,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,450. This represents a 86.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 12.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Iovance Biotherapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IOVA. Brookstone Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in the second quarter valued at $112,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics during the second quarter valued at $1,705,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $174,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,034,760 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $8,299,000 after purchasing an additional 200,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 361,187 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $2,897,000 after buying an additional 37,521 shares during the period. 77.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.