Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) Stock Price Down 6.5% – Should You Sell?

Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA)’s share price fell 6.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $2.78 and last traded at $2.7850. 5,956,958 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 12,844,538 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IOVA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. HC Wainwright decreased their price target on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $20.00 to $9.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Chardan Capital cut their price objective on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Iovance Biotherapeutics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.10.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.40. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of -2.29 and a beta of 0.77.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.04. The company had revenue of $67.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.20 million. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 158.78% and a negative return on equity of 55.24%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Iovance Biotherapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IOVA. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 115.2% in the 2nd 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 period. Mirador Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in the third quarter worth approximately $1,118,000. Voss Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in the second quarter worth $1,157,000. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 326.5% during the 2nd quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 192,378 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 147,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,056,000. Institutional investors own 77.03% of the company’s stock.

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.