Jennison Associates LLC Has $31.26 Million Stock Position in Vaxcyte, Inc. $PCVX

Key Points

• Jennison Associates cut its stake in Vaxcyte by 42.1% in Q4, selling 493,346 shares and retaining 677,553 shares valued at about $31.26 million (roughly 0.52% of the company).
• Analyst views are mixed but lean positive: Vaxcyte has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" (six Buys, one Hold, one Sell) with an average target of $86, while individual targets range up to $116 and at least one shop rates it a "strong sell."
• The company remains loss-making (recent quarter EPS of -$1.80, missing estimates and analysts project about -7 EPS for the year), and insiders sold roughly 17,037 shares (~$995k) in the last quarter; Vaxcyte has a market cap near $8.22 billion.

Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its position in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Free Report) by 42.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 677,553 shares of the company's stock after selling 493,346 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned approximately 0.52% of Vaxcyte worth $31,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 148.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,222 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the period. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 22,500.0% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,356 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 1,350 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the 3rd quarter worth about $72,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the 3rd quarter worth about $76,000. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Vaxcyte from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Vaxcyte from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $116.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their target price on Vaxcyte from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vaxcyte has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $56.93 on Friday. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $28.09 and a fifty-two week high of $65.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of -10.13 and a beta of 1.30. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $58.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.47.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported ($1.80) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.46) by ($0.34). During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.12) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jim Wassil sold 7,395 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.88, for a total transaction of $435,417.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 166,818 shares in the company, valued at $9,822,243.84. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Elvia Cowan sold 3,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $180,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 28,975 shares in the company, valued at $1,738,500. This trade represents a 9.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 17,037 shares of company stock worth $994,899 in the last quarter. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Vaxcyte 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.

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.