Franklin Resources Inc. Has $234.88 Million Stock Holdings in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,869,332 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,997 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 2.30% of Vaxcyte worth $234,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Vaxcyte in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,433,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Vaxcyte by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after acquiring an additional 4,962 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC raised its position in Vaxcyte by 53.7% during the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 413,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,860,000 after purchasing an additional 144,516 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Vaxcyte by 186.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,022,000 after purchasing an additional 34,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 70.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 593,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,418,000 after purchasing an additional 246,049 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PCVX shares. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Vaxcyte from $140.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $157.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Vaxcyte from $138.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.50.

Insider Activity at Vaxcyte

In other Vaxcyte news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.66, for a total transaction of $669,280.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 205,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,208,443.70. This represents a 3.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the 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 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. Insiders have sold 46,250 shares of company stock worth $3,840,018 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PCVX opened at $32.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $78.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.24. The stock has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.01 and a beta of 1.02. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.12 and a 52-week high of $121.06.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.14. Analysts predict that Vaxcyte, Inc. 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.