Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 8,093 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 259% compared to the typical volume of 2,254 put options.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Harpreet S. Dhaliwal sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.00, for a total transaction of $935,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 76,756 shares in the company, valued at $4,221,580. This represents a 18.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Grant Pickering sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.65, for a total transaction of $111,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 133,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,413,414.75. This trade represents a 1.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 55,890 shares of company stock valued at $3,111,189 in the last quarter. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in Vaxcyte during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,044,355,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Vaxcyte in the second quarter worth approximately $701,520,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 23.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,575,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $960,231,000 after purchasing an additional 3,188,687 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 35.9% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,296,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,213,000 after purchasing an additional 2,981,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,001,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $407,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386,968 shares during the period. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim upped their price target on Vaxcyte from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $89.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Vaxcyte from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vaxcyte from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vaxcyte has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.60.

Key Vaxcyte News

Here are the key news stories impacting Vaxcyte this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Vaxcyte reported that its 31-valent pneumococcal vaccine candidate, VAX-31, met all prespecified primary endpoints in the pivotal OPUS-1 Phase 3 trial across the age groups studied. The candidate produced immune responses comparable to Pfizer’s Prevnar 20 and/or Merck’s Capvaxive, strengthening the case that VAX-31 could compete in the adult pneumococcal vaccine market. Vaxcyte Reports Positive Topline Data from OPUS-1
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts responded favorably to the late-stage readout. Jefferies described the results as supporting a “blue-sky” scenario and estimated the addressable adult pneumococcal vaccine market at roughly $3 billion to $6 billion or more. Needham raised its price target from $110 to $122 while retaining a Buy rating, and BTIG reaffirmed Buy with an $89 target. Vaxcyte Given New $122 Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Trading activity has been elevated following the clinical update. Investors bought 2,615 call options Monday, while 8,093 put options changed hands Tuesday—about 259% above average put volume—suggesting heightened hedging and uncertainty after the sharp move.
• Negative Sentiment: Vaxcyte launched separate offerings for $500 million of common stock and pre-funded warrants and $500 million of convertible senior notes due 2032, with potential over-allotments of up to $75 million for each offering. The financing should bolster resources for development and commercialization, but the equity and warrant issuance creates dilution risk, while the convertible notes add future conversion and debt-related overhang. Vaxcyte Announces Proposed Public Offerings

Vaxcyte Trading Down 9.3%

PCVX stock traded down $6.87 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $66.95. The stock had a trading volume of 2,993,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,464,883. Vaxcyte has a 52 week low of $39.87 and a 52 week high of $90.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $59.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.31. The firm has a market cap of $9.96 billion, a PE ratio of -8.74 and a beta of 1.23.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.06) by $0.09. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.22) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte will post -7.6 EPS for the current year.

About Vaxcyte

Vaxcyte, Inc (NASDAQ: PCVX) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing vaccines to help prevent serious bacterial infections. The company uses its cell-free protein synthesis and advanced conjugation technologies to design vaccines intended to provide broad and durable protection while addressing limitations of existing vaccine products.

Vaxcyte’s lead programs are pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidates, including VAX-24 and VAX-31, which are designed to target a broad range of pneumococcal serotypes.