Novavax Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:NVAX)

Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 41,513 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 109% compared to the typical volume of 19,859 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Rachel K. King sold 4,150 shares of Novavax stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total value of $37,433.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,225.40. This trade represents a 21.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James F. Young sold 5,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $43,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 51,760 shares in the company, valued at $414,080. This represents a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,150 shares of company stock valued at $119,641. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Novavax

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in shares of Novavax by 26.9% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 4,887 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its holdings in Novavax by 3.0% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 44,900 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $568,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Novavax by 38.1% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,790 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,598 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Novavax by 12.0% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,292 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,072 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Novavax by 12.5% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,143 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 2,692 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NVAX. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $26.00 price objective (up from $23.00) on shares of Novavax in a report on Thursday, October 10th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Novavax in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Novavax from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Novavax presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.83.

Novavax Trading Up 10.9 %

Shares of NVAX stock opened at $10.82 on Wednesday. Novavax has a 12 month low of $3.53 and a 12 month high of $23.86. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.79 and a beta of 2.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.28.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.76) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.07. The company had revenue of $84.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.26) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 54.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Novavax will post -1.44 earnings per share for the current year.

About Novavax

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.