Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Trading Down 6.1% – Here’s What Happened

Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) dropped 6.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $7.95 and last traded at $7.87. Approximately 1,618,096 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 7,998,392 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVAX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Novavax in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Novavax in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Novavax to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Novavax Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.46, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 2.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.32 and a 200 day moving average of $9.58.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.51) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.75) by $0.24. The company had revenue of $88.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.44) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Novavax, Inc. will post -1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Novavax news, Director James F. Young sold 5,400 shares of Novavax 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 sale, the director now directly owns 51,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $414,080. The trade was a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Novavax

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NVAX. Sanofi purchased a new stake in shares of Novavax in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,319,000. Deep Track Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Novavax in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,080,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Novavax by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,687,951 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $97,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621,772 shares during the last quarter. Shah Capital Management lifted 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 valued at $89,637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,333,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake 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 valued at $25,252,000 after acquiring an additional 656,900 shares during the last quarter. 53.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.