Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Monday after TD Cowen raised their price target on the stock from $5.00 to $10.00. The stock had previously closed at $8.88, but opened at $9.69. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. Novavax shares last traded at $9.99, with a volume of 15,114,879 shares.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on NVAX. Bank of America raised Novavax from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $4.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Friday. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Novavax in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Novavax from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $14.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novavax

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Novavax by 31.6% in the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 11,298 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in Novavax by 23.7% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 12,753 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 2,447 shares during the period. Monaco Asset Management SAM lifted its position in Novavax by 181.3% during the first quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 188,900 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $903,000 after purchasing an additional 121,751 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in Novavax by 236.2% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 83,613 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 58,746 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Novavax by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 37,203 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 8,570 shares during the last quarter. 53.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novavax Trading Up 47.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.14 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.03.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 10th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.04) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $93.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $71.32 million. Novavax's revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($3.41) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Novavax, Inc. will post -0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Novavax Company Profile

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.