Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INO) Short Interest Up 9.5% in September

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INO) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,340,000 shares, an increase of 9.5% from the September 15th total of 3,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 329,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 10.1 days. Approximately 13.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Inovio Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Inovio Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $88,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Inovio Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $71,000. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Inovio Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $184,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Inovio Pharmaceuticals by 62.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 31,565 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 12,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 26.79% of the company’s stock.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.9 %

INO traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $5.74. The stock had a trading volume of 322,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 412,931. The stock has a market cap of $148.73 million, a PE ratio of -1.54 and a beta of 0.82. Inovio Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $3.89 and a 1 year high of $14.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.07.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:INO) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $0.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $0.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.56) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Inovio Pharmaceuticals will post -4.64 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, July 15th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Inovio Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $33.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Inovio Pharmaceuticals from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $43.80.

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.