Vaxart, Inc. (NASDAQ:VXRT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Vaxart, Inc. (NASDAQ:VXRT) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,350,000 shares, a growth of 19.1% from the April 30th total of 12,050,000 shares. Currently, 6.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,030,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vaxart

In related news, insider Steven Lo bought 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $0.49 per share, with a total value of $49,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,000. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vaxart

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new stake in Vaxart in the first quarter worth $31,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Vaxart by 276,364.7% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 478,284 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $196,000 after acquiring an additional 478,111 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Vaxart in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Vaxart by 93.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 146,366 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 70,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Vaxart by 95.0% during the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 516,798 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 251,789 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 18.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. B. Riley lowered their price objective on shares of Vaxart from $2.50 to $2.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Vaxart to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd.

Vaxart Trading Down 6.7%

Shares of Vaxart stock opened at $0.42 on Wednesday. Vaxart has a 12 month low of $0.29 and a 12 month high of $1.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.85 million, a P/E ratio of -1.02 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $0.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $0.56.

Vaxart (NASDAQ:VXRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 13th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.07) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.07). Vaxart had a negative net margin of 431.61% and a negative return on equity of 110.46%. The business had revenue of $20.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 million. Analysts predict that Vaxart will post -0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

About Vaxart

Vaxart, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, discovers and develops oral recombinant protein vaccines based on its proprietary oral vaccine platform. The company’s product pipeline includes norovirus vaccine, a bivalent oral tablet vaccine in Phase 2 clinical trial for the GI.1 and GII.4 norovirus strains; coronavirus vaccine, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial, for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection; seasonal influenza vaccine, which is in Phase 2 clinical trial, to treat H1 influenza infection; and human papillomavirus therapeutic vaccine, which is in preclinical stage, that targets HPV-16 and HPV-18 for cervical cancers and precancerous cervical lesions.