Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Stock Price Up 11.6% Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) were up 11.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $8.30 and last traded at $8.17. Approximately 2,620,975 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 4,336,841 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.32.

The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.51) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.75) by $0.24. The business had revenue of $88.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.48 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.44) earnings per share.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on NVAX shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Novavax to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Novavax in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on Novavax in a research note on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $19.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.00.

Insider Transactions at Novavax

In other news, Director James F. Young sold 4,600 shares of Novavax stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.48, for a total transaction of $39,008.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 57,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $484,716.80. The trade was a 7.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel K. King sold 4,150 shares of Novavax stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total transaction of $37,433.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,225.40. This trade represents a 21.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,150 shares of company stock valued at $119,641 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanofi acquired a new position in shares of Novavax in the fourth quarter valued at $55,319,000. Deep Track Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Novavax in the 4th quarter worth approximately $16,080,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Novavax by 26.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,687,951 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $97,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621,772 shares during the last quarter. Shah Capital Management grew its holdings in Novavax by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 11,148,846 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,637,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in Novavax by 48.9% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,999,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,252,000 after purchasing an additional 656,900 shares during the last quarter. 53.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Novavax Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 2.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $8.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.00.

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.