Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Decreases Stock Holdings in Vaxcyte, Inc. $PCVX

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its Vaxcyte stake by 91.3% in the second quarter, selling 1.06 million shares and retaining 101,433 shares valued at about $5.9 million. Institutional investors still own 96.78% of PCVX.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Zacks downgraded the stock to “strong sell,” while five analysts maintain Buy ratings. The consensus rating is “Hold,” with an average price target of $86.
• Vaxcyte shares opened at $59.22, with a market capitalization of $8.81 billion. The company reported a quarterly loss of $1.97 per share, beating estimates for a $2.06 loss, while insiders sold approximately $6.57 million of stock during the latest quarter.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Free Report) by 91.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 101,433 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,063,380 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.07% of Vaxcyte worth $5,896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Vaxcyte by 111.8% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,692 shares of the company's stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 5,116 shares in the last quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 406.4% during the first quarter. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP now owns 128,450 shares of the company's stock worth $7,464,000 after purchasing an additional 103,085 shares in the last quarter. DV Trading LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte during the 1st quarter valued at $1,162,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 73.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,216,843 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,711,000 after purchasing an additional 515,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stempoint Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the 1st quarter worth $3,432,000. Institutional investors own 96.78% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PCVX shares. Zacks Research downgraded Vaxcyte from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Vaxcyte from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Vaxcyte Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ PCVX opened at $59.22 on Wednesday. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 12-month low of $29.81 and a 12-month high of $65.00. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $55.41. The stock has a market cap of $8.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.76 and a beta of 1.23.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.97) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.06) by $0.09. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.22) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -7.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vaxcyte

In other Vaxcyte news, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.89, for a total transaction of $538,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 105,176 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,667,934.64. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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, CEO Grant Pickering sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.65, for a total value of $111,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 133,215 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,413,414.75. The trade was a 1.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 120,646 shares of company stock worth $6,570,810. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source