Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Shares Up 6.7% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) traded up 6.7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $8.36 and last traded at $8.40. 919,344 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 8,061,799 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on NVAX shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Novavax in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Novavax in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $19.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Novavax to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Novavax currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.00.

Novavax Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of -3.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 2.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $8.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.85.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.51) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.75) by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $88.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.44) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Novavax, Inc. will post -1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Novavax

In related news, Director Rachel K. King sold 4,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total transaction of $37,433.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,225.40. The trade was a 21.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James F. Young sold 5,400 shares of the company’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 value of $43,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 51,760 shares in the company, valued at $414,080. This represents a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,150 shares of company stock worth $119,641. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novavax

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NVAX. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Novavax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Novavax by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 268,684 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,160,000 after buying an additional 44,359 shares during the last quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP bought a new position in Novavax during the fourth quarter worth $555,000. Sanofi acquired a new position in Novavax during the 4th quarter valued at about $55,319,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Novavax by 45.1% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 70,988 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 22,051 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.