ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) Shares Break Above Fifty Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

ImmunityBio, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBRX)’s share price passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $8.69 and traded as high as $8.83. ImmunityBio shares last traded at $8.81, with a volume of 7,140,913 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on IBRX. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of ImmunityBio in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of ImmunityBio in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of ImmunityBio from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of ImmunityBio in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ImmunityBio has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.00.

ImmunityBio Stock Down 5.1%

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.86. The stock has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.55 and a beta of 0.02.

ImmunityBio (NASDAQ:IBRX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $51.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.70 million. Equities research analysts forecast that ImmunityBio, Inc. will post -0.30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ImmunityBio news, Director Cheryl Cohen sold 81,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.50, for a total transaction of $851,088.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 100,309 shares in the company, valued at $1,053,244.50. This trade represents a 44.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Barry J. Simon sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.75, for a total value of $268,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,777,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,861,221. This trade represents a 0.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 66.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ImmunityBio

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Doliver Advisors LP raised its stake in ImmunityBio by 110.0% in the third quarter. Doliver Advisors LP now owns 210,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 110,000 shares in the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in ImmunityBio during the second quarter worth about $1,287,000. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in ImmunityBio during the second quarter worth about $2,207,000. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in ImmunityBio during the first quarter worth about $18,770,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in ImmunityBio by 29.4% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 34,083,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,399,000 after buying an additional 7,736,819 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 8.58% of the company’s stock.

ImmunityBio Company Profile

ImmunityBio, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing immunotherapies designed to activate and strengthen the body’s immune response against cancer and infectious diseases. The company’s approach combines immune-system modulators, cellular therapies, vaccines and other technologies intended to address multiple stages of the disease-treatment process.

Its lead product, Anktiva (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln, also known as N-803), is an interleukin-15 receptor agonist designed to stimulate natural killer cells and T cells.