BTIG Research Initiates Coverage on Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX)

Equities research analysts at BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) in a research report issued on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $19.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. BTIG Research’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 169.12% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Novavax in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Novavax currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.00.

Novavax Stock Performance

NVAX stock opened at $7.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 2.14. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.00. Novavax has a 52 week low of $3.81 and a 52 week high of $23.86.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.51) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.75) by $0.24. The company had revenue of $88.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.48 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.44) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Novavax will post -1.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James F. Young sold 5,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total value of $43,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 51,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $414,080. This trade represents a 9.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Rachel K. King sold 4,150 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 14,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,225.40. This represents a 21.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,150 shares of company stock valued at $119,641 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novavax

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Novavax by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,325,508 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $16,741,000 after purchasing an additional 187,548 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Novavax by 26.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,454,325 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,643,000 after buying an additional 517,727 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Novavax by 26.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,687,951 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $97,099,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621,772 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Novavax by 300.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 97,162 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,226,000 after acquiring an additional 72,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shah Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Novavax by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 11,148,846 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $89,637,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333,305 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.04% of the company’s stock.

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.