The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Raises Position in Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. $IOVA

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:IOVA) by 57.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 365,471 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after buying an additional 134,028 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Iovance Biotherapeutics were worth $1,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Knott David M Jr purchased a new stake in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,616,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 71.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,645,702 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $9,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106,592 shares during the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics by 149.7% in the fourth quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 260,660 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 156,253 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,207,079 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $74,275,000 after purchasing an additional 3,148,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new stake in Iovance Biotherapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $532,000. 77.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on IOVA shares. Robert W. Baird set a $6.00 price target on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research note on Friday. Chardan Capital cut their target price on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Citizens Jmp lifted their price target on Iovance Biotherapeutics from $5.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $8.00.

Iovance Biotherapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics stock opened at $6.49 on Wednesday. Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $1.76 and a 52-week high of $6.92. The company has a fifty day moving average of $4.50 and a 200-day moving average of $3.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.89 and a beta of 0.71.

Iovance Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:IOVA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.02. The company had revenue of $198.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.83 million. Iovance Biotherapeutics had a negative net margin of 89.11% and a negative return on equity of 40.92%. The firm’s revenue was up 65.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.33) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. will post -0.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.