B. Riley Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX)

B. Riley reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $23.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $25.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on NVAX. HC Wainwright restated a buy rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Novavax in a report on Monday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Novavax from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Novavax from $5.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Novavax from $12.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $15.80.

Novavax Stock Performance

Shares of NVAX opened at $12.19 on Monday. Novavax has a 52 week low of $3.53 and a 52 week high of $23.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $14.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.79 and a beta of 1.99.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $415.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $458.57 million. The company’s revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Novavax will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James F. Young sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.09, for a total transaction of $105,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 61,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $870,198.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Novavax

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Novavax by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 99,314 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 23,715 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio grew its stake in Novavax by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 100,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 19,700 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Novavax by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 87,739 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 27,436 shares during the period. abrdn plc purchased a new stake in shares of Novavax during the fourth quarter worth $306,000. Finally, Shah Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Novavax by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 7,780,756 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,348,000 after acquiring an additional 1,450,000 shares during the period. 53.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.