Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Shares of Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $8.91, but opened at $9.89. Novavax shares last traded at $9.10, with a volume of 6,406,118 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Novavax from $31.00 to $25.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Novavax from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and set a $26.00 price target (up previously from $23.00) on shares of Novavax in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novavax presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $17.83.

Novavax Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a PE ratio of -3.24 and a beta of 2.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $11.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.38.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.83). The firm had revenue of $415.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.57 million. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Novavax, Inc. will post -0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novavax

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in shares of Novavax by 500.0% in the second quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 3,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in Novavax by 26.9% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 4,887 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Novavax during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Novavax by 214.5% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 5,680 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 3,874 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Novavax by 38.1% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,790 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,598 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 53.04% of the company's stock.

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.