Valneva (NASDAQ:VALN) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Valneva SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:VALN) gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $6.96, but opened at $6.68. Valneva shares last traded at $6.6450, with a volume of 3,874 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Valneva in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $12.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Valneva in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Valneva from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.30.

Valneva Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $643.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.21 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04.

Valneva (NASDAQ:VALN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.40) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.19) by ($0.21). Valneva had a negative return on equity of 153.20% and a negative net margin of 110.33%.The firm had revenue of $39.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.17 million. On average, analysts expect that Valneva SE Sponsored ADR will post -1.27 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Valneva

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marex Group plc purchased a new position in Valneva in the second quarter valued at about $64,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Valneva in the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new position in Valneva during the third quarter valued at $124,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.39% of the company’s stock.

About Valneva

Valneva SE is a specialty vaccine company focused on the development and commercialization of prophylactic vaccines for infectious diseases. Headquartered in Saint-Herblain, France, the company applies inactivated whole-cell and recombinant technology platforms to address public health needs. Valneva’s research and development efforts span a range of viral and bacterial pathogens, with an emphasis on travel-related and emerging infectious diseases.

Among its marketed products, Valneva offers IXIARO®/JESPECT® for the prevention of Japanese encephalitis and DUKORAL® for the prevention of cholera and diarrhea caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli.