Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on NVAX. TD Cowen increased their price target on Novavax from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Novavax from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Novavax in a report on Thursday, June 11th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Novavax in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Novavax in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. One equities 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.00.

Novavax Trading Up 1.2%

NVAX opened at $9.46 on Monday. Novavax has a 1-year low of $6.20 and a 1-year high of $11.97. The company has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.31 and a beta of 2.43. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $9.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $8.86.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.25) by $0.19. The company had revenue of $118.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $79.81 million. Novavax had a negative net margin of 14.73% and a negative return on equity of 14.82%. The business’s revenue was down 79.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Novavax will post -0.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novavax

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Shah Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Novavax by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 14,558,780 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $97,835,000 after purchasing an additional 2,747,000 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Novavax by 4,775.0% during the third quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 780,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,763,000 after buying an additional 764,000 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its position in Novavax by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,894,284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,890,000 after buying an additional 1,405,981 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Novavax by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,470,365 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $103,961,000 after buying an additional 275,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Novavax by 107.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 199,106 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 102,945 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.04% of the company’s stock.

About Novavax

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.