Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.00.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $116.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Vaxcyte from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vaxcyte

In related news, CAO Elvia Cowan sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $180,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 28,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,738,500. This represents a 9.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.83, for a total value of $127,867.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 160,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,135,081.52. This represents a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 17,037 shares of company stock valued at $994,899. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCVX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Vaxcyte by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,565,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,373,000 after buying an additional 366,266 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in Vaxcyte by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 3,732,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,452,000 after buying an additional 663,817 shares during the period. Pivotal bioVenture Partners Investment Advisor LLC increased its stake in Vaxcyte by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pivotal bioVenture Partners Investment Advisor LLC now owns 1,372,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,435,000 after buying an additional 67,300 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC increased its stake in Vaxcyte by 127.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC now owns 24,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $876,000 after buying an additional 13,617 shares during the period. Finally, HighVista Strategies LLC increased its stake in Vaxcyte by 159.4% during the 3rd quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 86,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,127,000 after buying an additional 53,345 shares during the period. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $56.93 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $58.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of -10.13 and a beta of 1.30. Vaxcyte has a 12 month low of $28.09 and a 12 month high of $65.00.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported ($1.80) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.46) by ($0.34). During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.12) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte will post -7 earnings per share for the current year.

About Vaxcyte

Vaxcyte, Inc (NASDAQ: PCVX) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing a new generation of preventive vaccines aimed at combating serious bacterial diseases. Headquartered in San Carlos, California, Vaxcyte leverages proprietary conjugation technologies to design and manufacture multivalent vaccines targeting pathogens for which there remain significant unmet medical needs. The company’s platform is intended to streamline the production of conjugate vaccines by improving antigen presentation and broadening strain coverage compared with conventional approaches.

Vaxcyte’s lead candidate, VAX-24, is a 24-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine designed to protect against 24 serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae.