Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Trading 6.6% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) traded up 6.6% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $8.67 and last traded at $8.57. 1,244,773 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 9,060,255 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVAX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (up previously from $23.00) on shares of Novavax in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Novavax in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.83.

Novavax Trading Up 3.3 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.34. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.92 and a beta of 2.07.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.76) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $84.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.26) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 54.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Novavax, Inc. will post -1.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James F. Young sold 5,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $43,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 51,760 shares in the company, valued at $414,080. This trade represents a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Rachel K. King sold 4,150 shares of Novavax stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total value of $37,433.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,225.40. This represents a 21.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,150 shares of company stock valued at $119,641. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in Novavax by 26.9% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 4,887 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Novavax by 3.0% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 44,900 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $568,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,598 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Novavax by 12.0% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,292 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,072 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in Novavax by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,143 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.04% of the company’s stock.

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.