Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) Rating Increased to Neutral at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Briefing.com reports.

Separately, HC Wainwright dropped their target price on Novavax from $35.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st.

Novavax Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NVAX traded up $6.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $10.73. 89,464,496 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,767,264. Novavax has a 1-year low of $3.53 and a 1-year high of $11.00. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.83 and a beta of 1.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.98.

Novavax (NASDAQ:NVAX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.44) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by ($0.95). The company had revenue of $291.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $310.96 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($2.28) earnings per share. Novavax’s quarterly revenue was down 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Novavax will post -0.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Novavax

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Novavax by 467.0% in the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 13,743 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 11,319 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Novavax by 102.9% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 13,944 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 7,072 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Novavax in the 3rd quarter valued at $72,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Novavax in the 3rd quarter valued at $72,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Novavax in the 4th quarter valued at $72,000. Institutional investors own 53.04% of the company’s stock.

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.