Renaissance Technologies LLC Lowers Stake in Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX)

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its holdings in Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX - Free Report) by 31.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,407,530 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 657,253 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.88% of Novavax worth $11,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Novavax by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 25,340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 1,219 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Novavax by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 436,451 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,664 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Novavax by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 50,506 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $406,000 after purchasing an additional 2,124 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Novavax by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 33,965 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Novavax by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 43,034 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 3,236 shares during the period. 53.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Novavax Stock Performance

Novavax stock traded down $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $6.00. 4,866,614 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,240,446. The company has a market capitalization of $965.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 3.15. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $7.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.63. Novavax, Inc. has a 1 year low of $3.86 and a 1 year high of $23.86.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.51) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.75) by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $88.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $85.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.44) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Novavax, Inc. will post -1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NVAX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BTIG Research started coverage on shares of Novavax in a research report on Friday, February 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $19.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Novavax to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Novavax presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $18.00.

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.