Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INO) Short Interest Up 7.6% in April

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INO) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,260,000 shares, a growth of 7.6% from the March 31st total of 2,100,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 492,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days. Currently, 8.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Inovio Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in INO. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in Inovio Pharmaceuticals by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 115,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 6,148 shares during the period. Keystone Financial Group lifted its position in Inovio Pharmaceuticals by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 122,737 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 12,840 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Inovio Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $178,000. Pathstone Family Office LLC lifted its position in Inovio Pharmaceuticals by 344.2% in the third quarter. Pathstone Family Office LLC now owns 148,392 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 114,989 shares during the period. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Inovio Pharmaceuticals by 213.5% in the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 138,972 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 94,637 shares during the period. 26.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:INO opened at $11.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.86 million, a PE ratio of -1.53 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $10.82 and a 200-day moving average of $40.39. Inovio Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $3.89 and a 52 week high of $14.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

INO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. JMP Securities started coverage on Inovio Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market outperform” rating and a $144.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut Inovio Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Inovio Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $48.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th.

About Inovio Pharmaceuticals

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a biotechnology company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of DNA medicines to treat and protect people from diseases associated with human papillomavirus (HPV), cancer, and infectious diseases. Its DNA medicines platform uses precisely designed SynCon that identify and optimize the DNA sequence of the target antigen, as well as CELLECTRA smart devices technology that facilitates delivery of the DNA plasmids.