Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Novavax shares opened at $10.00 after closing at $9.58, with recent trading volumes indicating increased investor interest.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Novavax, with price targets ranging from $6.00 (Citigroup) to $15.86 (average) while a "buy" rating was reiterated by B. Riley.
• The company reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.62, significantly beating the consensus estimate and showing a 39.20% net margin, though revenue was down 42.4% year-over-year.

Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $9.58, but opened at $10.00. Novavax shares last traded at $10.02, with a volume of 1,897,428 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVAX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $7.00 target price (down from $9.00) on shares of Novavax in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Novavax in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. They set a "sell" rating and a $6.00 price target for the company. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating on shares of Novavax in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Novavax from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.57.

Novavax Stock Up 2.8%

The firm's 50 day moving average price is $7.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.20. The company has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.10 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 2.36.

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

Institutional Trading of Novavax

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NVAX. Shah Capital Management increased its stake in Novavax by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 11,511,780 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $72,524,000 after purchasing an additional 379,934 shares in the last quarter. Sanofi bought a new stake in Novavax during the 4th quarter valued at $55,319,000. Park West Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Novavax during the 1st quarter valued at $16,210,000. Deep Track Capital LP bought a new stake in Novavax during the 4th quarter valued at $16,080,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Novavax by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,451,715 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $11,672,000 after purchasing an additional 83,503 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 53.04% of the company's stock.

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.