Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Trading Down 5.7% - Time to Sell?

Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX - Get Free Report) shares dropped 5.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $8.90 and last traded at $8.98. Approximately 2,142,419 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 4,885,543 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVAX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $26.00 target price (up from $23.00) on shares of Novavax in a report on Thursday, October 10th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Novavax in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Novavax from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $17.83.

Novavax Price Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $8.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.75.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.76) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $84.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $65.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.26) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 54.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Novavax, Inc. will post -1.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James F. Young sold 4,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.48, for a total transaction of $39,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 57,160 shares of the company's stock, valued at $484,716.80. This trade represents a 7.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel K. King sold 4,150 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total transaction of $37,433.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at $133,225.40. This represents a 21.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,150 shares of company stock valued at $119,641 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NVAX. Shah Capital Management boosted its holdings in Novavax by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 11,148,846 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $89,637,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333,305 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Novavax by 26.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,687,951 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $97,099,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621,772 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Novavax by 9.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,502,489 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $44,245,000 after acquiring an additional 304,159 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Novavax by 26.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,454,325 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $32,643,000 after acquiring an additional 517,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Novavax by 48.9% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,999,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $25,252,000 after acquiring an additional 656,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.04% of the company's stock.

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.