Guggenheim Reiterates Buy Rating for Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Guggenheim in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $160.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 95.49% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $147.50.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

PCVX stock traded up $2.49 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $81.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 367,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,079,323. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.86 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.00. Vaxcyte has a 1 year low of $58.10 and a 1 year high of $121.06.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last issued its quarterly 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. As a group, analysts forecast that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vaxcyte news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.45, for a total value of $1,386,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 450,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,630,327.45. This represents a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.78, for a total transaction of $710,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 109,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,720,610.98. This trade represents a 6.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 76,616 shares of company stock valued at $6,766,481 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Vaxcyte by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Vaxcyte by 3.6% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC increased its position in Vaxcyte by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC now owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Vaxcyte by 188.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. 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.