Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $90.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 176.84% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on PCVX. 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, April 1st. Evercore ISI upgraded Vaxcyte to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Vaxcyte from $157.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $136.50.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

NASDAQ PCVX opened at $32.51 on Tuesday. Vaxcyte has a 1-year low of $29.57 and a 1-year high of $121.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of -7.07 and a beta of 1.26.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.14. On average, analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vaxcyte news, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.51, for a total value of $692,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 109,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,472,066.41. This represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.11, for a total value of $531,937.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,664.25. The trade was a 46.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,250 shares of company stock valued at $3,170,738 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PCVX. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Vaxcyte by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC now owns 4,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 188.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd now owns 18,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,506,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 96.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vaxcyte Company Profile

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.