Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INO) Short Interest Up 19.6% in March

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INO) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,400,000 shares, a growth of 19.6% from the March 15th total of 5,350,000 shares. Approximately 17.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 851,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.5 days.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of INO stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $1.82. 121,879 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 575,729. Inovio Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $1.42 and a twelve month high of $13.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $1.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.55 million, a PE ratio of -0.46 and a beta of 1.84.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 18th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.69) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $0.18. The company had revenue of $0.12 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.03 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Inovio Pharmaceuticals will post -4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on INO. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and set a $3.00 price objective on shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Inovio Pharmaceuticals from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Inovio Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Deep Track Capital LP increased its stake in shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals by 72.9% during the fourth quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 3,119,162 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314,796 shares during the period. Stonepine Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Inovio Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $1,922,000. AIGH Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Inovio Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $1,197,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals by 1,035.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 640,987 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,173,000 after buying an additional 584,521 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highbridge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $549,000. 26.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.