IBRX Stock Racks Up 3 Straight Quarterly Wins: Q3 Filings Reveal Blackrock Closing In On Vanguard With A Bigger Bet

(MENAFN- AsiaNet News)

• BlackRock added 7.74 million shares, narrowing Vanguard's lead to 2.4 million shares.
• Two Sigma boosted its holding by 153%, while State Street, Geode and Northern Trust also reported substantial increases.
• Susquehanna, Jane Street and Citadel cut their reported share holdings by 94%, 90% and 55%.

Shares of ImmunityBio, Inc. (IBRX) logged their third consecutive quarterly gain as institutional disclosures released during Q3 revealed that BlackRock had narrowed the gap with Vanguard's combined holdings, adding more than three times as many shares.

IBRX stock jumped 7% to $9.44 on Wednesday, hitting a seven-month high. Shares gained 19% in September, their best month since February, and finished Q3 up 8%.

BlackRock Narrows Vanguard's Lead

Filings released during Q3 showed that BlackRock and Vanguard increased their IBRX holdings in Q2.  BlackRock added 7.74 million shares, increasing its position by 29% to 34.08 million shares, valued at $298.4 million. Vanguard's six reporting entities collectively held 36.48 million shares, up a net 2.43 million, or about 7%, from March 31.

BlackRock added about 3.18 times as many shares as Vanguard's six entities combined. This narrowed Vanguard's lead from about 7.7 million shares at the end of March to 2.4 million at the end of June.

Vanguard Portfolio Management made the group's largest addition, adding 1.54 million shares to hold 17.86 million. Vanguard Capital Management added 563,865 shares to reach 15.69 million, while Vanguard Fiduciary Trust added 289,210 shares to hold 2.41 million.

Vanguard Asset Management and Vanguard Global Advisers added 26,065 and 9,073 shares. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management trimmed its holding by 2,298 shares, leaving the group's combined net increase at 2.4 million shares.

Two Sigma Leads A Wave Of Stake Increases

BlackRock was not the only large investor to disclose a substantial increase. Two Sigma Investments boosted its position by 153%, adding 6.71 million shares to hold 11.1 million. Its position was valued at $97.2 million as of June 30.

State Street added 3.69 million shares, increasing its holding by 21% to 21.4 million. Geode Capital Management added 1.82 million shares, while Northern Trust increased its position by 1.06 million.

Investor	Shares held on June 30	Shares added during Q2	Position increase
BlackRock	34.1 million	7.7 million	29%
Vanguard - six entities combined	36.5 million	2.4 million	7%
Two Sigma Investments	11.1 million	6.7 million	153%
State Street	21.4 million	3.7 million	21%
Geode Capital Management	9.8 million	1.8 million	23%
Northern Trust	3.6 million	1.1 million	42%

Together, these investors reported about 23.44 million additional shares compared with the previous quarter.

Other notable increases included BNY Mellon, which added 483,330 shares to hold 1.31 million, a 58% increase. Citigroup expanded its position by 227%, adding 381,920 shares to reach 550,276. Marshall Wace increased its holding by 403% to 387,700 shares, while T. Rowe Price Associates added 146,613 shares, lifting its position by 50% to 441,444.

Jane Street And Susquehanna Slash Holdings

The institutional picture was mixed, with substantial additions alongside sharp reductions. D. E. Shaw reduced its position by 1.02 million shares, or 8%, but retained a sizable holding of 11.55 million shares. Morgan Stanley trimmed its position by 586,191 shares to 3.43 million, a 15% decline.

Woodline Partners cut its holding by 28% to 2.5 million shares, while Voleon Capital Management reduced its position by 53% to 549,126.

Several trading firms made even steeper percentage reductions:

Investor	Shares held on June 30	Shares reduced during Q2	Position reduction
Susquehanna International Group	65,961	1.1 million	94%
Jane Street Group	72,397	631,835	90%
Tower Research Capital	19,753	52,760	73%
Virtu Financial	67,774	194,524	74%
Citadel Advisors	136,045	169,533	55%

FDA Decision And Tokenization Plans Draw Attention

The disclosures came as investors weighed Anktiva's expanding reach and founder Patrick Soon-Shiong's tokenization ambitions. Anktiva, the company's flagship immunotherapy, is approved or authorized across 34 countries, with an FDA decision on expanding its U.S. bladder-cancer label to papillary-only patients expected by Jan.6, 2027.

A September patent application outlined potential uses to restore immune cells depleted by cancer treatments, potentially allowing patients to continue earlier therapies.“As such, even failed treatments can be continued,” the application said. 

Meanwhile, Soon-Shiong teased blockchain-based trading at Nant:“The future is here. Watch this space as we launch blockchain and tokenized stocks at Nant.” Nant Global Finance is assembling trading and settlement infrastructure, drawing retail speculation that tokenization could curb so-called phantom shares and pressure short sellers. 

How Do Retail Traders Feel About IBRX?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for IBRX jumped to 'extremely bullish' from 'bullish' levels a day ago amid a 237% surge in 24-hour message volumes. After Wednesday's rally, several users questioned whether the unusual price action signaled an imminent announcement.

IBRX sentiment and message volume as of September 30 | Source: Stocktwits

“This move is very unusual. Something is already materialized behind the scene and to be PR soon,” one user said. Another asked,“News. Tommorrow???? Somebody knows something!!!” A third trader pointed to above-average trading volume without substantial news, speculating that something could emerge“very very soon.”

IBRX stock has jumped 378% year-to-date.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.

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