Short Interest in Vaxart, Inc. (NASDAQ:VXRT) Increases By 19.1%

Vaxart, Inc. (NASDAQ:VXRT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,350,000 shares, a growth of 19.1% from the April 30th total of 12,050,000 shares. Currently, 6.5% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,030,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on VXRT. B. Riley decreased their price objective on Vaxart from $2.50 to $2.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Vaxart to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Steven Lo acquired 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $0.49 per share, with a total value of $49,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $49,000. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxart

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vaxart during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Vaxart by 276,364.7% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 478,284 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $196,000 after acquiring an additional 478,111 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Vaxart during the first quarter worth about $56,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Vaxart by 93.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 146,366 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 70,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Vaxart by 95.0% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 516,798 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 251,789 shares during the last quarter. 18.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vaxart Stock Performance

Shares of Vaxart stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $0.41. 811,226 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,447,493. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $0.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $0.55. The stock has a market cap of $92.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.99 and a beta of 1.27. Vaxart has a 12 month low of $0.29 and a 12 month high of $1.07.

Vaxart (NASDAQ:VXRT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $20.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 million. Vaxart had a negative return on equity of 110.46% and a negative net margin of 431.61%. Equities research analysts forecast that Vaxart will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Vaxart Company Profile

Vaxart, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, discovers and develops oral recombinant protein vaccines based on its proprietary oral vaccine platform. The company's product pipeline includes norovirus vaccine, a bivalent oral tablet vaccine in Phase 2 clinical trial for the GI.1 and GII.4 norovirus strains; coronavirus vaccine, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial, for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection; seasonal influenza vaccine, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial, to treat H1 influenza infection; and human papillomavirus therapeutic vaccine, which is in preclinical stage, that targets HPV-16 and HPV-18 for cervical cancers and precancerous cervical lesions.