Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX)

Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders acquired 59,208 call options on the company. This is an increase of 339% compared to the average daily volume of 13,501 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novavax

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Novavax by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,470,365 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $103,961,000 after purchasing an additional 275,802 shares in the last quarter. Shah Capital Management grew its stake in Novavax by 2.0% in the first quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 14,845,097 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $120,839,000 after purchasing an additional 286,317 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Novavax by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,523,646 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $63,999,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326,927 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Novavax by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,894,284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,890,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Novavax by 0.5% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,101,074 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,886,000 after purchasing an additional 15,685 shares in the last quarter. 53.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVAX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Novavax in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. B. Riley Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novavax in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novavax in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Novavax from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Novavax from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.13.

Novavax News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Novavax this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat revenue and EPS expectations and management highlighted Matrix?M partnership momentum, which traders view as validation of recurring?revenue potential. Q1 Results & Analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports note expanding Matrix?M collaborations across oncology and infectious disease (including Pfizer links referenced in coverage), a potential new revenue stream beyond COVID vaccines. Matrix-M Deal Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: Survey/media coverage claims patients were “twice as likely” to pick Novavax’s COVID shot over Moderna, which supports commercial uptake narratives if validated. Patient Preference Report
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual bullish options activity — traders bought ~59,208 call contracts (?+339% vs. average daily call volume) — suggests speculative or informed short?term bullish positioning in NVAX.
• Neutral Sentiment: Novavax will present at the BofA Securities 2026 Health Care Conference, increasing investor visibility but not a guaranteed catalyst. BofA Conference Announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple earnings?call transcripts and analyst notes are circulating; these provide detail for longer?term thesis but are incremental vs. the headline Q1 beat. Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: TD Cowen raised its price target to $9.00 but kept a “hold” rating; that PT sits below the current market level, implying limited upside from some analysts. TD Cowen Note
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat, Novavax remains unprofitable with negative margins and significant year?over?year revenue declines vs. peak COVID demand—structural risks that keep some investors cautious. Q1 Loss Coverage

Novavax Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NVAX traded up $1.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $10.40. 6,756,771 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,802,434. Novavax has a 52-week low of $5.80 and a 52-week high of $11.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of -18.11 and a beta of 2.37. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $9.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.20.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25) by $0.19. Novavax had a negative return on equity of 17.64% and a negative net margin of 14.73%.The business had revenue of $118.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 79.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Novavax will post -0.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novavax Company Profile

Novavax, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, that specializes in the discovery, development and commercialization of next-generation vaccines to prevent serious infectious diseases. Founded in 1987, the company has built a platform based on recombinant nanoparticle technology and its proprietary Matrix-M™ adjuvant to enhance immune responses.

The company’s lead product is NVX-CoV2373, a protein-based vaccine designed to elicit a robust immune response against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.