Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Trading 7.6% Higher – Should You Buy?

Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) shares were up 7.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $10.88 and last traded at $10.8450. Approximately 3,820,304 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 5,351,847 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on NVAX. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Novavax in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings raised Novavax from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Novavax from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Novavax from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Novavax in a research note on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.88.

Novavax Trading Up 6.8%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 2.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a current ratio of 2.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $9.07 and a 200-day moving average of $8.16.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.66) by $0.77. The firm had revenue of $136.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.26 million. Novavax had a negative return on equity of 673.17% and a net margin of 39.19%.Novavax’s quarterly revenue was up 66.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.51) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Novavax, Inc. will post -1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Novavax

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NVAX. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Novavax during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Novavax in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Novavax during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Novavax by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,896 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 1,617 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Novavax during the 3rd quarter valued at $64,000. 53.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novavax Company Profile

Novavax, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, that specializes in the discovery, development and commercialization of next-generation vaccines to prevent serious infectious diseases. Founded in 1987, the company has built a platform based on recombinant nanoparticle technology and its proprietary Matrix-M™ adjuvant to enhance immune responses.

The company’s lead product is NVX-CoV2373, a protein-based vaccine designed to elicit a robust immune response against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.