Wedbush Securities Inc. Invests $605,000 in Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. $IOVA

Wedbush Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 145,473 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock, valued at approximately $605,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IOVA. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 161.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 522,887 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after buying an additional 322,680 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 279.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 59,540 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $195,000 after acquiring an additional 43,829 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 30.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,571,902 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $18,554,000 after acquiring an additional 1,301,846 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 202.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,777,344 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $19,239,000 after acquiring an additional 3,869,617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 112.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,466 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 25,083 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.03% of the company’s stock.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IOVA opened at $8.28 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $5.63 and its 200 day moving average is $4.41. Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1.76 and a 1 year high of $9.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.34 and a beta of 0.82.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $198.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.83 million. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 40.51% and a negative net margin of 89.11%.The company’s revenue was up 65.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.33) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -0.49 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $4.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $7.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 24th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $6.00 price objective on Iovance Biotherapeutics in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upped their price objective on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Iovance Biotherapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.89.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Profile

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc is a clinical‐stage biotechnology company specializing in the development and commercialization of tumor‐infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) immunotherapies for the treatment of solid tumors. The company’s lead product candidate, lifileucel (formerly LN‐144), is an autologous TIL therapy in late‐stage clinical development for patients with advanced melanoma. Iovance’s pipeline also includes next‐generation TIL programs such as LN‐145 for cervical and other human papillomavirus (HPV)‐related cancers, as well as exploratory studies in head and neck, non‐small cell lung, gastric and other solid tumor indications.

Iovance’s TIL platform harnesses a patient’s own immune system by isolating, expanding and reinfusing tumor‐reactive lymphocytes.