Optimist Retirement Group LLC Buys New Position in Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX)

Optimist Retirement Group LLC bought a new stake in Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 16,285 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NVAX. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Novavax in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Novavax by 48.3% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 861,479 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,135,000 after purchasing an additional 280,381 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in Novavax by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 634,692 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,047,000 after acquiring an additional 199,771 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its position in Novavax by 62.4% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 1,611,840 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,737,000 after acquiring an additional 619,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pennant Investors LP bought a new position in Novavax during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $289,000. 53.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on NVAX. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Novavax from $12.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Novavax from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target (down from $25.00) on shares of Novavax in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Novavax currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.80.

Novavax Stock Performance

Shares of Novavax stock opened at $12.56 on Thursday. Novavax, Inc. has a 52-week low of $3.53 and a 52-week high of $23.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.96 and a beta of 2.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $13.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.59.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.83). The firm had revenue of $415.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $458.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Novavax, Inc. will post -1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James F. Young sold 7,500 shares of Novavax stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.09, for a total transaction of $105,675.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 61,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $870,198.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Novavax 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.