BlackRock Inc. Invests $701.52 Million in Vaxcyte, Inc. $PCVX

BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 12,068,129 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $701,520,000. BlackRock Inc. owned approximately 8.36% of Vaxcyte at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Vaxcyte by 156.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 597 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 1,463.4% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 641 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 22,500.0% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,356 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC purchased a new position in Vaxcyte in the first quarter valued at about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.78% of the company's stock.

Vaxcyte Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of Vaxcyte stock opened at $62.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.21 and a beta of 1.23. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $29.87 and a fifty-two week high of $65.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $56.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.80.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.97) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($2.06) by $0.09. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.22) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vaxcyte

In related news, COO Jim Wassil sold 2,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.86, for a total transaction of $121,185.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 157,541 shares in the company, valued at $8,485,158.26. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Grant Pickering sold 2,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.65, for a total transaction of $111,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 133,215 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,413,414.75. This represents a 1.48% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 120,646 shares of company stock valued at $6,570,810. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Vaxcyte from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Vaxcyte from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Vaxcyte currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Vaxcyte Company Profile

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.

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