Novavax, Inc. $NVAX Shares Sold by Rafferty Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Novavax, Inc. by 22.5%, selling 80,502 shares to hold 277,715 shares, valued at $1,780,000.
• Several institutional investors increased their holdings in Novavax, with notable purchases including Sanofi, which bought a new position worth $55.3 million.
• Novavax's recent earnings report showed a significant revenue increase, generating $239.24 million against analyst estimates of $149.19 million, despite a 42.4% decline in revenue year-over-year.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX - Free Report) by 22.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 277,715 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 80,502 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned about 0.17% of Novavax worth $1,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Novavax by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 123,581 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $994,000 after buying an additional 39,787 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Novavax by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 101,812 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 9,711 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in Novavax by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 135,486 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 14,853 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Novavax by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 268,684 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,160,000 after acquiring an additional 44,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Novavax by 44.9% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 27,283 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 8,454 shares in the last quarter. 53.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on NVAX shares. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Novavax in a research note on Monday, May 19th. HC Wainwright began coverage on Novavax in a research report on Thursday, August 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $10.00 price target for the company. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $7.00 price objective (down from $9.00) on shares of Novavax in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on 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 assumed coverage on shares of Novavax in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. They issued a "sell" rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $14.29.

Novavax Trading Up 4.4%

NASDAQ:NVAX traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $7.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,747,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,751,575. 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 cap of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.10 and a beta of 2.68. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $7.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $7.16. Novavax, Inc. has a twelve month low of $5.01 and a twelve month high of $15.22.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $239.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $149.19 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. Novavax's revenue was down 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Novavax, Inc. will post -1.46 EPS for the current year.

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.