Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX - Free Report) by 300.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 97,162 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 72,894 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.06% of Novavax worth $1,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NVAX. Shah Capital Management lifted its stake in Novavax by 19.0% in the second quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 9,662,090 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $122,322,000 after buying an additional 1,544,263 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Novavax by 26.7% in the 3rd 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Novavax by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,502,489 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $44,245,000 after purchasing an additional 304,159 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Novavax by 26.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,454,325 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $32,643,000 after purchasing an additional 517,727 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Novavax by 48.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,999,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $25,252,000 after purchasing an additional 656,900 shares during the period. 53.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Novavax Stock Down 2.2 %

NASDAQ NVAX traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $8.28. 3,046,102 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,106,979. The company has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.66 and a beta of 2.02. Novavax, Inc. has a 12-month low of $3.53 and a 12-month high of $23.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $8.86 and a 200 day moving average of $11.55.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.76) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $84.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $65.80 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.26) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 54.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Novavax, Inc. will post -1.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Novavax in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. B. Riley restated a "buy" rating and issued a $26.00 price target (up previously from $23.00) on shares of Novavax in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Novavax from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $17.83.

Novavax Company Profile

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.