Cantor Fitzgerald Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by Cantor Fitzgerald in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $120.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s target price suggests a potential upside of 79.64% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on PCVX. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Vaxcyte from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on Vaxcyte from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.50.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $66.80 on Monday. Vaxcyte has a fifty-two week low of $39.87 and a fifty-two week high of $90.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.86.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.06) by $0.09. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.22) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte will post -7.60 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vaxcyte

In other news, EVP Jim Wassil sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.74, for a total value of $1,561,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,435 shares in the company, valued at $12,615,031.90. This represents a 11.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Elvia Cowan sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.74, for a total transaction of $1,648,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,416,576.40. This trade represents a 40.55% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 92,890 shares of company stock worth $6,320,569 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in Vaxcyte in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,044,355,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Vaxcyte by 23.8% in the 1st 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. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Vaxcyte in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $701,520,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 35.9% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings 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 worth $407,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386,968 shares during the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vaxcyte Company Profile

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.