Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate Vaxcyte “Moderate Buy”: Five of seven analysts recommend buying the stock, while one rates it a hold and one a sell. The average 12-month price target is $98.
• Vaxcyte reported quarterly EPS of -$1.97, beating the consensus estimate of -$2.06. Shares opened at $59.02, with a 52-week range of $31.89 to $65.00.
• Institutional investors own 96.78% of Vaxcyte, with major firms including Jupiter Topco, BlackRock, Janus Henderson, T. Rowe Price and Wellington increasing or initiating positions. Insiders sold 90,127 shares worth about $5.0 million during the last quarter.

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $98.00.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vaxcyte from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Vaxcyte from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $59.02 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $8.78 billion, a PE ratio of -7.74 and a beta of 1.22. Vaxcyte has a 52-week low of $31.89 and a 52-week high of $65.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.22.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.97) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.06) by $0.09. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.22) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Vaxcyte will post -7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vaxcyte

In related news, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 10,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.89, for a total value of $538,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 105,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,667,934.64. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 3,477 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.07, for a total value of $212,340.39. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 155,041 shares in the company, valued at $9,468,353.87. The trade was a 2.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 90,127 shares of company stock valued at $5,021,389. Corporate insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PCVX. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,044,355,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Vaxcyte by 23.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,575,875 shares of the company's stock worth $960,231,000 after buying an additional 3,188,687 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Vaxcyte during the second quarter worth $701,520,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Vaxcyte by 35.9% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,296,333 shares of the company's stock worth $521,213,000 after acquiring an additional 2,981,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Vaxcyte by 24.7% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,001,565 shares of the company's stock worth $407,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,386,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.78% of the company's stock.

Vaxcyte Company Profile

Vaxcyte, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing vaccines to prevent serious bacterial infections. The company's lead programs target pneumococcal disease, which can cause pneumonia, meningitis, bloodstream infections and other invasive illnesses. Vaxcyte is developing broad-spectrum pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidates designed to protect against a wide range of bacterial serotypes.

Vaxcyte's pipeline has included VAX-24, an investigational 24-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, and VAX-31, a next-generation candidate designed to cover 31 serotypes.

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