Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Novavax Put Options (NASDAQ:NVAX)

Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors bought 18,451 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 61% compared to the average daily volume of 11,433 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVAX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Novavax from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 31st. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Novavax in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered Novavax from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Novavax in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Novavax from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novavax

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Novavax by 34.9% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,746 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Novavax by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 155,743 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after buying an additional 1,529 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted 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 in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Novavax by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 78,048 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 1,718 shares during the period. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al boosted its holdings in Novavax by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 34,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.04% of the company’s stock.

Novavax Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NVAX traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.33. 5,095,792 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,967,778. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $9.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.90. Novavax has a 12 month low of $6.20 and a 12 month high of $11.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.09 and a beta of 2.43.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25) by $0.19. Novavax had a negative net margin of 14.73% and a negative return on equity of 14.82%. The business had revenue of $118.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $79.81 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 79.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Novavax will post -0.19 EPS for the current year.

Novavax News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Novavax this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Novavax was removed from several major Russell growth and small-cap indices, which could reduce demand from passive index funds and force benchmark-tracking investors to trim exposure. Novavax (NVAX) Dropped From Major Russell Growth Indices And Why It Matters
• Negative Sentiment: Options trading turned bearish, with unusually large put buying signaling that some traders are positioning for downside or hedging against further weakness.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks Research raised its earnings estimates for Novavax for Q1 2027, Q2 2027, and FY2027 and maintained a Strong-Buy rating, but the revisions were not enough to offset the index-removal headline.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent commentary also noted Novavax has outperformed some peers despite a recent pullback, suggesting sentiment remains mixed rather than uniformly bearish. Novavax (NVAX) Suffers a Larger Drop Than the General Market: Key Insights

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.