Janus Henderson Group PLC Increases Position in Vaxcyte, Inc. $PCVX

Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) by 23.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,575,875 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,188,687 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 0.11% of Vaxcyte worth $960,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PCVX. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Vaxcyte by 115.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 29,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 15,774 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the 1st quarter valued at about $219,000. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the 1st quarter valued at about $226,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 513,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,409,000 after buying an additional 41,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after buying an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Vaxcyte

In other Vaxcyte news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 22,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.50, for a total transaction of $1,179,202.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 474,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,921,907.50. This represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.28, for a total value of $572,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 104,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,979,745.60. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 93,646 shares of company stock worth $5,103,592 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on PCVX shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vaxcyte from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Vaxcyte from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Vaxcyte Trading Down 3.0%

PCVX stock opened at $52.98 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $52.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.82. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.08 and a 12-month high of $65.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.70 and a beta of 1.22.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($2.30) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.74) by ($0.56). During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.04) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -7.91 EPS for the current year.

About Vaxcyte

Vaxcyte, Inc (NASDAQ: PCVX) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing a new generation of preventive vaccines aimed at combating serious bacterial diseases. Headquartered in San Carlos, California, Vaxcyte leverages proprietary conjugation technologies to design and manufacture multivalent vaccines targeting pathogens for which there remain significant unmet medical needs. The company’s platform is intended to streamline the production of conjugate vaccines by improving antigen presentation and broadening strain coverage compared with conventional approaches.

Vaxcyte’s lead candidate, VAX-24, is a 24-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine designed to protect against 24 serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae.