Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Given "Underperform" Rating at Bank of America

Key Points

• Bank of America has reiterated its "underperform" rating for Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX), with a price target of $7.00, indicating a potential downside of 26.47%.
• Novavax reported a revenue of $239.24 million for the last quarter, significantly surpassing analyst estimates of $149.19 million, despite a 42.4% year-over-year revenue decline.
• Analyst ratings for Novavax reveal mixed sentiment, with four analysts rating it as a buy, one as a hold, and three assigning a sell rating, leading to a consensus rating of "hold" and an average target price of $15.57.

Bank of America restated their underperform rating on shares of Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX - Free Report) in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $7.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company's stock, down from their previous price target of $9.00.

NVAX has been the topic of a number of other reports. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Novavax in a research note on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Novavax from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Novavax in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. They issued a "sell" rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.57.

Novavax Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NVAX traded down $0.3350 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $7.5050. The stock had a trading volume of 4,728,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,737,086. Novavax has a 1-year low of $5.01 and a 1-year high of $15.22. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $7.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 2.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.29, a PEG ratio of 0.10 and a beta of 2.50.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.07) by $0.69. Novavax had a net margin of 39.20% and a negative return on equity of 142.33%. The business had revenue of $239.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.19 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Novavax's revenue was down 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Novavax will post -1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Novavax

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NVAX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Novavax by 28.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 76,576 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 17,101 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in shares of Novavax by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 125,845 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 29,981 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novavax during the 4th quarter valued at about $544,000. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Novavax by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Novavax by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 379,300 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,050,000 after acquiring an additional 71,500 shares in the last quarter. 53.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.