First Trust Advisors LP Makes New Investment in Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX)

First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 241,117 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $1,939,000. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.15% of Novavax at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Novavax by 73.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 709,579 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $8,961,000 after purchasing an additional 301,627 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Novavax by 300.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 97,162 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,226,000 after buying an additional 72,894 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Novavax by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,158,967 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $9,318,000 after buying an additional 4,691 shares during the last quarter. Shah Capital Management increased its stake 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 buying an additional 1,333,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Novavax by 97.0% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,954 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 3,917 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.04% of the company's stock.

Novavax Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NVAX traded down $0.67 during trading on Friday, hitting $5.99. 19,974,384 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,566,547. Novavax, Inc. has a 12-month low of $4.43 and a 12-month high of $23.86. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $6.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $963.46 million, a PE ratio of -2.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 3.21.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 9th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $2.74. The firm had revenue of $666.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.08 million. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 610.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.05) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Novavax, Inc. will post -1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NVAX shares. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Novavax in a research note on Friday, February 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $19.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Novavax from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Novavax to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $17.71.

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.