Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Stock Falls 12.9% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVAX) fell 12.9% on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $10.02 and last traded at $9.59. Approximately 4,927,966 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 5% from the average session volume of 5,174,835 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.01.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NVAX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $8.00 price objective (up from $7.00) on shares of Novavax in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Novavax in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research lowered Novavax from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Novavax from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.33.

Novavax Stock Down 2.9%

The company’s fifty day moving average is $10.32 and its 200-day moving average is $9.31. The company has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a PE ratio of -6.38 and a beta of 2.44.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by $0.06. The business had revenue of $56.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.51 million. Novavax had a negative net margin of 59.87% and a negative return on equity of 14.82%. The firm’s revenue was down 76.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Novavax, Inc. will post -0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Novavax

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Shah Capital Management boosted its position in Novavax by 2.0% in the first quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 14,845,097 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $120,839,000 after purchasing an additional 286,317 shares during the last quarter. TSP Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Novavax by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. TSP Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,432,365 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $15,484,000 after purchasing an additional 13,000 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Novavax during the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,004,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Novavax during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,234,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Novavax in the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,049,000. Institutional investors own 53.04% of the company’s stock.

Novavax Company Profile

Novavax, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing vaccines for infectious diseases. The company uses recombinant protein nanoparticle technology and its proprietary Matrix-M adjuvant to develop vaccines designed to stimulate targeted immune responses.

Novavax’s principal commercial product is Nuvaxovid, also known as the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine, a protein-based vaccine developed to help prevent COVID-19. The vaccine has been authorized or approved in various markets, subject to local regulatory requirements, and the company has worked with governments, public-health organizations, and pharmaceutical partners to support its distribution internationally.

Founded in 1987, Novavax is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland.