Candriam S.C.A. Acquires 239,206 Shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. $PCVX

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. increased its Vaxcyte stake by 115% in the third quarter, adding 239,206 shares to hold 447,260 shares worth about $25.5 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.78% of the company.
• Analysts have a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Vaxcyte, with an average price target of $110.50; seven analysts rate the stock Buy, one Hold, and one Sell.
• Vaxcyte reported a quarterly loss of $1.99 per share, beating the consensus estimate of a $2.11 loss. Its vaccine candidates remain in development, and the company has no approved commercial vaccines.

Candriam S.C.A. increased its holdings in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Free Report) by 115.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 447,260 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 239,206 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A. owned approximately 0.30% of Vaxcyte worth $25,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Vaxcyte by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 939 shares of the company's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Vaxcyte in the third quarter valued at $1,270,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Vaxcyte in the third quarter valued at $1,650,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 18.1% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 27,151 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,539,000 after buying an additional 4,170 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BG Investment Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the third quarter valued at about $1,075,000. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Vaxcyte

In other Vaxcyte news, CAO Elvia Cowan sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.92, for a total value of $182,760.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 27,860 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,697,231.20. This represents a 9.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Jim Wassil sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.90, for a total transaction of $137,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 145,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,856,991.50. The trade was a 1.52% 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 three months, insiders have sold 50,692 shares of company stock worth $4,032,875. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PCVX. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Vaxcyte from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Vaxcyte from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Vaxcyte from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.50.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

PCVX stock opened at $63.89 on Monday. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a one year low of $40.14 and a one year high of $90.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $61.71 and a 200-day moving average of $57.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a PE ratio of -7.93 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 4.56 and a current ratio of 4.56.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported ($1.99) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.11) by $0.12. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.56) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -7.73 EPS for the current year.

About Vaxcyte

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.

Founded as SutroVax, the company adopted the Vaxcyte name in 2020.

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