Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Trading Up 8.9% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) shot up 8.9% on Monday . The company traded as high as $9.30 and last traded at $9.22. 2,390,085 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 9,647,690 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Novavax from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Novavax from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Novavax in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (up from $23.00) on shares of Novavax in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.83.

Novavax Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.09 and a beta of 2.10. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.63.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.76) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $84.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.26) earnings per share. Novavax’s quarterly revenue was down 54.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Novavax, Inc. will post -1.4 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Novavax during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its position in shares of Novavax by 500.0% during the 2nd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 3,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in shares of Novavax by 26.9% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 4,887 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novavax by 214.5% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 3,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Novavax by 38.1% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,790 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,598 shares in the last quarter. 53.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Novavax

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.