Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Stock Price Up 11.6% After Strong Earnings

Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) was up 11.6% during trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $8.30 and last traded at $8.17. Approximately 2,620,975 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 4,336,841 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.32.

The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.51) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.75) by $0.24. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.44) earnings per share.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Novavax in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Novavax has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James F. Young sold 4,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.48, for a total value of $39,008.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 57,160 shares in the company, valued at $484,716.80. This represents a 7.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel K. King sold 4,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total transaction of $37,433.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,770 shares in the company, valued at $133,225.40. The trade was a 21.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,150 shares of company stock worth $119,641. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Novavax

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sanofi bought a new position in Novavax in the 4th quarter valued at $55,319,000. Deep Track Capital LP bought a new stake in Novavax in the fourth quarter worth about $16,080,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Novavax by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,687,951 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $97,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621,772 shares during the last quarter. Shah Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Novavax by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 11,148,846 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333,305 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in Novavax by 48.9% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,999,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,252,000 after purchasing an additional 656,900 shares during the last quarter. 53.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novavax Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 2.14.

Novavax Company Profile

Novavax, Inc, a biotechnology company, that promotes improved health by discovering, developing, and commercializing vaccines to protect against serious infectious diseases. It offers vaccine platform that combines a recombinant protein approach, nanoparticle technology, and its patented Matrix-M adjuvant to enhance the immune response.