Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the nine brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $147.50.

PCVX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Vaxcyte in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

PCVX opened at $69.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.94 billion, a PE ratio of -15.10 and a beta of 1.02. Vaxcyte has a fifty-two week low of $58.10 and a fifty-two week high of $121.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $80.07 and a 200-day moving average of $92.68.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.14. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.51, for a total transaction of $692,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 109,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,472,066.41. This represents a 6.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.11, for a total value of $531,937.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,664.25. This trade represents a 46.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,250 shares of company stock valued at $3,840,018. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PCVX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Vaxcyte by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,961,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $979,184,000 after purchasing an additional 521,204 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,921,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,247,954,000 after buying an additional 2,052,989 shares in the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 8,689,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $992,914,000 after acquiring an additional 485,436 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,210,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $508,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,405,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,174,000 after acquiring an additional 38,596 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.78% 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.