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

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 23,866 call options on the company. This is an increase of 44% compared to the average daily volume of 16,524 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on IOVA. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price target on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.64.

Insider Activity at Iovance Biotherapeutics

In other news, Director Merrill A. Mcpeak acquired 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.15 per share, for a total transaction of $2,287,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 320,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,929,372.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Iovance Biotherapeutics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 116.0% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,356 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 3,414 shares during the last quarter. Annandale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Clear Street Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake 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 worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 4,678 shares during the period. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.03% of the company’s stock.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Stock Up 1.8 %

IOVA stock traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $13.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,535,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,125,108. Iovance Biotherapeutics has a 1 year low of $3.21 and a 1 year high of $18.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $13.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.55.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $0.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.64) EPS. Analysts expect that Iovance Biotherapeutics will post -1.4 EPS for the current year.

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.