Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,961,687 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 521,204 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.60% of Vaxcyte worth $979,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PCVX. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vaxcyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 188.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 742 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Vaxcyte by 77,500.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 776 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Vaxcyte in the 3rd quarter worth $92,000. Institutional investors own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

Vaxcyte Trading Down 1.9 %

NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $69.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.10 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50-day moving average is $80.07 and its 200 day moving average is $92.68. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 12 month low of $58.10 and a 12 month high of $121.06.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by $0.14. On average, research analysts forecast that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PCVX. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Vaxcyte in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.50.

Insider Activity at Vaxcyte

In other news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.66, for a total value of $669,280.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 205,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,208,443.70. This trade represents a 3.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.11, for a total value of $531,937.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,664.25. This represents a 46.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 46,250 shares of company stock valued at $3,840,018. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

About Vaxcyte

Vaxcyte, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology vaccine company, develops novel protein vaccines to prevent or treat bacterial infectious diseases. Its lead vaccine candidate is VAX-24, a 24-valent investigational pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease. The company also develops VAX-31 to protect against emerging strains and to help address antibiotic resistance; VAX-A1, a novel conjugate vaccine candidate to prevent disease caused by Group A Streptococcus; VAX-PG, a novel protein vaccine candidate targeting keystone pathogen responsible for periodontitis; and VAX-GI to prevent Shigella, a bacterial illness.