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

Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 28,763 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 66% compared to the typical daily volume of 17,376 call options.

Novavax Stock Down 0.9%

Novavax stock opened at $9.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.93, a quick ratio of 2.34 and a current ratio of 2.36. Novavax has a 52-week low of $5.01 and a 52-week high of $14.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $8.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.15, a PEG ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 2.74.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.69. The company had revenue of $239.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.19 million. Novavax had a net margin of 39.20% and a negative return on equity of 142.33%. Novavax’s revenue for the quarter was down 42.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Novavax will post -1.46 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Novavax

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Novavax in the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Novavax by 47.2% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,739 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 3,122 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in Novavax during the 2nd quarter worth $70,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in Novavax during the 1st quarter worth $71,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new position in Novavax during the 2nd quarter worth $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 53.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVAX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Novavax in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. HC Wainwright initiated coverage on shares of Novavax in a research note on Thursday, August 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $10.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Novavax in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $7.00 price target (down from $9.00) on shares of Novavax in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.29.

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.