Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Dynavax Technologies (NASDAQ:DVAX)

Dynavax Technologies Co. (NASDAQ:DVAX) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 3,017 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 803% compared to the typical volume of 334 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DVAX. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Dynavax Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Dynavax Technologies in a research report on Friday, February 21st. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Dynavax Technologies in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Dynavax Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $15.00 to $12.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dynavax Technologies

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Deep Track Capital LP grew its holdings in Dynavax Technologies by 42.0% during the 4th quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 17,791,486 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $227,197,000 after buying an additional 5,265,000 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C grew its stake in Dynavax Technologies by 23,990.1% during the fourth quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C now owns 5,193,823 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $66,325,000 after acquiring an additional 5,172,263 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Dynavax Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $7,762,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Dynavax Technologies by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,918,340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $24,497,000 after acquiring an additional 486,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Dynavax Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth $3,967,000. 96.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dynavax Technologies Stock Performance

Dynavax Technologies stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $13.96. The stock had a trading volume of 167,836 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,994,832. The company has a current ratio of 13.23, a quick ratio of 12.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Dynavax Technologies has a 52-week low of $9.74 and a 52-week high of $14.63. The company has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 77.53 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $13.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.43.

Dynavax Technologies (NASDAQ:DVAX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.05. The firm had revenue of $72.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.70 million. Dynavax Technologies had a net margin of 9.85% and a return on equity of 4.22%. On average, research analysts forecast that Dynavax Technologies will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

About Dynavax Technologies

Dynavax Technologies Corporation, a commercial stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on developing and commercializing vaccines in the United States. It markets HEPLISAV-B, a hepatitis B vaccine for prevention of infection caused by all known subtypes of hepatitis B virus in age 18 years and older in the United States and Europe.