Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $9.01, but opened at $8.05. Novavax shares last traded at $8.23, with a volume of 3,626,309 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on NVAX shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Novavax from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Novavax from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 target price (up from $23.00) on shares of Novavax in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Novavax in a report on Tuesday. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.83.

Novavax Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $11.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a PE ratio of -3.14 and a beta of 2.10.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novavax

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Shah Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Novavax by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 9,662,090 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $122,322,000 after buying an additional 1,544,263 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Novavax in the first quarter valued at $5,406,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Novavax in the second quarter worth $14,055,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Novavax by 940.7% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,154,276 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,579,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Novavax in the second quarter worth $4,592,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.04% of the company’s stock.

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.