Novavax Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:NVAX)

Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 40,854 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 58% compared to the average volume of 25,890 call options.

Novavax Stock Performance

Shares of NVAX opened at $12.62 on Tuesday. Novavax has a one year low of $3.53 and a one year high of $23.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $12.49 and its 200-day moving average is $11.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.98 and a beta of 2.04.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.83). The business had revenue of $415.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $458.57 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Novavax will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novavax

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Shah Capital Management raised its position in Novavax by 19.0% in the second quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 9,662,090 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $122,322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,544,263 shares in the last quarter. TSP Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novavax by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. TSP Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,376,950 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,582,000 after purchasing an additional 265,250 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Novavax by 940.7% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,154,276 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,579,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043,363 shares in the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Novavax during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,406,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Novavax during the second quarter worth approximately $14,055,000. Institutional investors own 53.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on NVAX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Novavax from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 target price (up from $23.00) on shares of Novavax in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Novavax in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novavax presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.83.

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.