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 $10.50, but opened at $11.27. Valneva shares last traded at $11.30, with a volume of 4,282 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Valneva from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.00.

Valneva Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $10.12 and a 200 day moving average of $9.60. The company has a market capitalization of $965.26 million, a PE ratio of -7.78 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Valneva

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. purchased a new position in Valneva during the second quarter valued at $8,240,000. Marex Group plc purchased a new stake in Valneva in the second quarter worth about $64,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Valneva in the fourth quarter worth about $94,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Valneva during the 3rd quarter valued at about $124,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Valneva during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 11.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Valneva

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.