Brokerages Set Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) Target Price at $127.71

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $147.50.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.27, for a total value of $586,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 154,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,351,794.37. The trade was a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the business’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 transaction of $531,937.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,664.25. The trade was a 46.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 61,616 shares of company stock worth $5,225,971. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PCVX. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vaxcyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Vaxcyte by 188.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new position in Vaxcyte during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Vaxcyte by 33.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Vaxcyte by 77,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

NASDAQ PCVX opened at $72.10 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $84.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.91. The company has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.67 and a beta of 0.98. Vaxcyte has a 12 month low of $58.10 and a 12 month high of $121.06.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by $0.14. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current year.

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.