Valneva (NASDAQ:VALN) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Valneva SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:VALN) shares gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $5.96, but opened at $6.22. Valneva shares last traded at $6.2450, with a volume of 18,683 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Guggenheim set a $11.00 price target on Valneva in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Valneva presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.33.

Valneva Stock Up 3.9%

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.19. The firm has a market cap of $533.45 million, a PE ratio of -3.92 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 1.85.

Valneva (NASDAQ:VALN) last announced its earnings results on Sunday, February 15th. The company reported ($0.68) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Valneva had a negative net margin of 67.64% and a negative return on equity of 76.81%. The business had revenue of $55.92 million for the quarter. Analysts expect that Valneva SE Sponsored ADR will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Marex Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Valneva during the second quarter valued at approximately $64,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Valneva during the third quarter valued at approximately $124,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Valneva by 125.0% during the third quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 9,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Valneva during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Valneva during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.39% of the company’s stock.

Valneva Company Profile

Valneva SE is a specialty vaccine company focused on the development and commercialization of prophylactic vaccines for infectious diseases. Headquartered in Saint-Herblain, France, the company applies inactivated whole-cell and recombinant technology platforms to address public health needs. Valneva’s research and development efforts span a range of viral and bacterial pathogens, with an emphasis on travel-related and emerging infectious diseases.

Among its marketed products, Valneva offers IXIARO®/JESPECT® for the prevention of Japanese encephalitis and DUKORAL® for the prevention of cholera and diarrhea caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli.