Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Novavax Call Options (NASDAQ:NVAX)

Key Points

• Novavax saw an 85% increase in call options trading, with traders purchasing 36,277 call options on Monday.
• Institutional investors currently own 53.04% of Novavax's stock, indicating significant interest and investment in the company.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report showed a revenue increase to $239.24 million, surpassing estimates, despite a >42% decline compared to the previous year.

Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders bought 36,277 call options on the stock. Thisisanincreaseofapproximately85% compared to the average daily volume of 19,617 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novavax

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Novavax during the 2nd quarter worth $903,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Novavax by 437.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 37,335 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 30,386 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Novavax by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 28,280 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 2,326 shares in the last quarter. Sender Co & Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Novavax in the 2nd quarter valued at $327,000. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Novavax in the 2nd quarter valued at about $110,000. 53.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novavax Stock Performance

Shares of Novavax stock traded up $0.16 on Monday, reaching $9.74. 8,242,698 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,654,208. 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 has a 1-year low of $5.01 and a 1-year high of $15.22. The company's 50-day moving average is $7.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.17. The firm has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.11 and a beta of 2.50.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on NVAX. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating on shares of Novavax in a research report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Novavax from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Novavax from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Novavax in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. They set a "sell" rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $15.86.

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.

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