Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Trading Down 2.7% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) dropped 2.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $12.41 and last traded at $12.55. Approximately 3,078,966 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 10,149,877 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NVAX shares. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 target price (up previously from $23.00) on shares of Novavax in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Novavax from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Novavax from $12.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Novavax in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.83.

Novavax Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.54 and a beta of 2.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $12.45 and its 200-day moving average is $11.42.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.83). The firm had revenue of $415.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $458.57 million. Novavax’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Novavax, Inc. will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Shah Capital Management raised its stake in Novavax by 19.0% during the 2nd 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 during the period. TSP Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Novavax by 23.9% in the first 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 increased its stake in shares of Novavax by 940.7% in the third 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 bought a new stake in shares of Novavax during the 1st quarter valued at $5,406,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Novavax during the 2nd quarter valued at $14,055,000. Institutional investors own 53.04% of the company’s stock.

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.