Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) Short Interest Up 24.8% in February

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 131,334,639 shares, a growth of 24.8% from the January 29th total of 105,255,004 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,986,769 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 14.6 days. Approximately 36.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Approximately 36.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 8,986,769 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 14.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IOVA. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 115.2% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 856,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 458,540 shares during the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,118,000. Voss Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,157,000. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 326.5% in the second quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 192,378 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $331,000 after acquiring an additional 147,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,056,000. 77.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IOVA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $5.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $2.00 target price on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen raised Iovance Biotherapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Chardan Capital decreased their target price on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.63.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics stock opened at $3.79 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $2.74 and its 200 day moving average is $2.44. Iovance Biotherapeutics has a one year low of $1.64 and a one year high of $4.57. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.38 and a beta of 0.68.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $86.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.61 million. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative return on equity of 54.54% and a negative net margin of 148.41%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Iovance Biotherapeutics will post -1.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Iovance Biotherapeutics

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.