Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) Stock Has Average Target Price of $110.50 According to Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: Seven of nine covering brokerages rate Vaxcyte a buy, while one rates it hold and one sell. The average 1-year price target is $110.50; Needham recently raised its target to $122.
• Two Vaxcyte executives sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans; insiders sold about 50,692 shares worth $4.03 million over the past 90 days. Insiders own 3.30% of the company.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.78% of Vaxcyte’s stock. The company reported quarterly EPS of -$1.99, beating the analyst consensus estimate of -$2.11.

Shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $110.50.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PCVX. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Vaxcyte from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $89.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Vaxcyte from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th.

Insider Activity at Vaxcyte

In related news, EVP Jim Wassil sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.74, for a total transaction of $1,561,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 145,435 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,615,031.90. This trade represents a 11.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Elvia Cowan sold 19,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.74, for a total transaction of $1,648,060.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 27,860 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,416,576.40. The trade was a 40.55% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 50,692 shares of company stock worth $4,032,875. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the second quarter valued at $1,044,355,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Vaxcyte during the 2nd quarter worth about $701,520,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Vaxcyte by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,575,875 shares of the company's stock worth $960,231,000 after acquiring an additional 3,188,687 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Vaxcyte by 24.7% during the 2nd 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. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Vaxcyte during the 2nd quarter worth about $62,711,000. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

PCVX stock opened at $68.62 on Thursday. Vaxcyte has a 52-week low of $42.40 and a 52-week high of $90.75. The company has a quick ratio of 4.56, a current ratio of 4.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $10.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.51 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day moving average of $62.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.55.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported ($1.99) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.11) by $0.12. During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.56) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte will post -7.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Vaxcyte Company Profile

Vaxcyte, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing vaccines to prevent bacterial infectious diseases. Its research focuses on conjugate vaccines, which link bacterial sugars to carrier proteins to help generate an immune response. The company's pipeline includes VAX-24 and VAX-31, investigational pneumococcal vaccines designed to protect against a broad range of strains, as well as VAX-A1, a candidate targeting Group A Streptococcus. Vaxcyte has no approved commercial vaccines; its programs remain under development.

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