Novavax Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:NVAX)

Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 41,513 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 109% compared to the typical volume of 19,859 call options.

Novavax Trading Up 10.9 %

Shares of NVAX opened at $10.82 on Wednesday. Novavax has a twelve month low of $3.53 and a twelve month high of $23.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.28. The company has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.79 and a beta of 2.07.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.76) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $84.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $65.80 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.26) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 54.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Novavax will post -1.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NVAX has been the subject of several research reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Novavax in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 price target (up previously from $23.00) on shares of Novavax in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novavax has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.83.

Insider Activity at Novavax

In other news, Director James F. Young sold 5,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.00, for a total transaction of $43,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 51,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $414,080. This represents a 9.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Rachel K. King sold 4,150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.02, for a total value of $37,433.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $133,225.40. This represents a 21.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,150 shares of company stock valued at $119,641. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novavax

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in Novavax by 26.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,687,951 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $97,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,621,772 shares during the period. Shah Capital Management increased its stake in Novavax by 19.0% in the 2nd quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 9,662,090 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $122,322,000 after buying an additional 1,544,263 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Novavax in the 2nd quarter valued at about $14,055,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Novavax by 940.7% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,154,276 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,579,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its position in shares of Novavax by 48.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,999,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,252,000 after acquiring an additional 656,900 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.