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

Valneva SE Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:VALN)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $8.85, but opened at $9.58. Valneva shares last traded at $10.00, with a volume of 13,443 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Valneva in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Valneva from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Valneva from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Valneva currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $15.00.

Valneva Trading Up 10.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $844.39 million, a P/E ratio of -6.81 and a beta of 1.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $8.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.74.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Valneva

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