Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $145.71.

PCVX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. 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 target price on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vaxcyte

In other Vaxcyte news, SVP Mikhail Eydelman sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.49, for a total value of $457,450.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 28,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,625,488.53. This trade represents a 14.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Grant Pickering sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.45, for a total transaction of $1,386,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 450,301 shares in the company, valued at $41,630,327.45. This trade represents a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,616 shares of company stock worth $6,095,681. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 47,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,622,000 after acquiring an additional 5,268 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in Vaxcyte in the 2nd quarter worth $1,764,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Vaxcyte by 3.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 10,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $820,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Vaxcyte by 10.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 131,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,948,000 after buying an additional 12,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 64.0% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 27,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,060,000 after buying an additional 10,642 shares during the period. 96.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $89.01 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $87.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.42. The company has a market capitalization of $11.09 billion, a PE ratio of -19.35 and a beta of 0.98. Vaxcyte has a 1-year low of $58.10 and a 1-year high of $121.06.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.91) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.