Valneva (NASDAQ:VALN) Trading Up 4.9% – Still a Buy?

Valneva SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:VALN) was up 4.9% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $8.78 and last traded at $8.7590. Approximately 33,647 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 60,685 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on VALN. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Valneva from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Valneva in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Valneva from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.00.

Valneva Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.78. The business’s 50-day moving average is $8.83 and its 200-day moving average is $8.65. The company has a market capitalization of $759.49 million, a PE ratio of -6.12 and a beta of 1.83.

Valneva (NASDAQ:VALN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 20th. The company reported ($0.61) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.30) by ($0.31). Valneva had a negative net margin of 57.81% and a negative return on equity of 59.44%. The business had revenue of $34.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.85 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Valneva SE Sponsored ADR will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Valneva in the second quarter worth $8,240,000. Marex Group plc purchased a new position in shares of Valneva in the 2nd quarter worth about $64,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new position in Valneva in the 3rd quarter worth about $124,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in Valneva by 125.0% during the 3rd quarter. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 9,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. 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.