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

Shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $147.50.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Vaxcyte from $101.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on shares of Vaxcyte from $106.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Vaxcyte from $98.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Vaxcyte from $113.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

PCVX stock opened at $85.75 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.07. The company has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.64 and a beta of 0.94. Vaxcyte has a 52-week low of $53.83 and a 52-week high of $121.06.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.10) by $0.27. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.91) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vaxcyte will post -4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vaxcyte

In other news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 2,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.89, for a total transaction of $245,803.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 137,398 shares in the company, valued at $14,274,278.22. This represents a 1.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 42,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.39, for a total transaction of $4,846,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 90,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,429,294.37. This trade represents a 31.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,830 shares of company stock worth $11,672,790 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Vaxcyte in the third quarter worth $27,000. Fifth Third Bancorp bought a new stake in Vaxcyte during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Vaxcyte by 33.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Vaxcyte by 649.4% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 607 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the 2nd quarter valued at about $70,000. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.