Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA)

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 23,866 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 44% compared to the average daily volume of 16,524 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on IOVA shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Iovance Biotherapeutics to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.64.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Trading Up 1.8 %

IOVA stock traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $13.88. 2,535,999 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,125,108. Iovance Biotherapeutics has a 12 month low of $3.21 and a 12 month high of $18.33. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $13.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $0.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.44 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.64) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Iovance Biotherapeutics will post -1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Merrill A. Mcpeak bought 250,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.15 per share, for a total transaction of $2,287,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 320,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,929,372.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 10.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Iovance Biotherapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 116.0% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,356 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 3,414 shares during the period. Annandale Capital LLC bought a new stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Clear Street Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 1,227.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 5,059 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 4,678 shares during the period. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in the third quarter worth approximately $48,000. 77.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.