Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $40.70 Million Stock Holdings in Vaxcyte, Inc. $PCVX

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its Vaxcyte stake by 20.5% in the first quarter, but still held 700,311 shares valued at about $40.7 million at the end of the period.
• Vaxcyte reported a Q1 EPS loss of $2.30, worse than analysts expected and wider than the loss a year earlier; analysts now expect the company to post a -7.91 EPS for the full fiscal year.
• Despite recent insider selling, Wall Street remains broadly constructive on the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus rating and a $86.00 average price target versus a recent price around $58.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its stake in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Free Report) by 20.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 700,311 shares of the company's stock after selling 181,124 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.49% of Vaxcyte worth $40,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Vaxcyte by 115.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 29,471 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 15,774 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vaxcyte in the 1st quarter worth approximately $219,000. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the 1st quarter valued at $226,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 513,998 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,409,000 after purchasing an additional 41,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 13.8% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,681 shares of the company's stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the period. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vaxcyte Stock Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $58.13 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $52.42 and a 200-day moving average of $53.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.45 and a beta of 1.24. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a twelve month low of $29.08 and a twelve month high of $65.00.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($2.30) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.74) by ($0.56). During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.04) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vaxcyte

In other news, COO Jim Wassil sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.52, for a total transaction of $111,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 158,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,848,622.88. This represents a 1.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Elvia Cowan sold 3,000 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 28,975 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,738,500. This represents a 9.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 66,198 shares of company stock worth $3,571,655 over the last three months. 3.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PCVX shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vaxcyte from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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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