Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX)

Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 55,472 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 508% compared to the typical volume of 9,122 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NVAX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Novavax from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 12th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Novavax in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Novavax in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Novavax from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novavax

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NVAX. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Novavax during the second quarter valued at about $8,004,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in Novavax in the first quarter worth $4,234,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novavax in the 1st quarter worth about $4,049,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Novavax in the first quarter worth approximately $2,969,000. Finally, Shah Capital Management increased its stake in Novavax by 2.0% in the first quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 14,845,097 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $120,839,000 after purchasing an additional 286,317 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 53.04% of the company’s stock.

Novavax Trading Up 27.8%

Novavax stock traded up $2.90 during trading on Monday, reaching $13.36. The company had a trading volume of 19,317,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,851,649. Novavax has a 52 week low of $6.20 and a 52 week high of $13.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.77 and a beta of 2.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.03.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.38) by $0.06. The company had revenue of $56.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.51 million. Novavax had a negative net margin of 59.87% and a negative return on equity of 14.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 76.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Novavax will post -0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

About Novavax

Novavax, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of vaccines. The company uses its recombinant protein-based vaccine platform and Matrix-M adjuvant technology to develop vaccines designed to stimulate targeted immune responses.

Novavax’s principal commercial product is its protein-based COVID-19 vaccine, marketed in various regions under the Nuvaxovid or Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine name. The vaccine has been authorized or approved in multiple markets, including the United States, Europe and other international jurisdictions, with availability and regulatory status varying by country.