Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Stock Price Down 5.7% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) were down 5.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $8.90 and last traded at $8.98. Approximately 2,142,419 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 4,885,543 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.52.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on NVAX shares. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (up previously from $23.00) on shares of Novavax in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. 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 report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.83.

Novavax Stock Down 3.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.85 and a beta of 2.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $8.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.84.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.76) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $84.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.26) earnings per share. Novavax’s revenue for the quarter was down 54.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Novavax, Inc. will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rachel K. King sold 4,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total value of $37,433.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,225.40. This trade represents a 21.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James F. Young sold 5,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $43,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 51,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $414,080. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,150 shares of company stock worth $119,641. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novavax

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Shah Capital Management boosted its position in Novavax by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 11,148,846 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,637,000 after buying an additional 1,333,305 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,621,772 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Novavax by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,502,489 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $44,245,000 after buying an additional 304,159 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Novavax by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,454,325 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,643,000 after purchasing an additional 517,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Novavax by 48.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,999,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,252,000 after purchasing an additional 656,900 shares during the last quarter. 53.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.