Point72 Asset Management L.P. Reduces Holdings in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. cut its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Free Report) by 30.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 251,055 shares of the company's stock after selling 108,741 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. owned 0.20% of Vaxcyte worth $20,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Vaxcyte during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 188.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Vaxcyte by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 742 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Vaxcyte by 77,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 776 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the period. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on PCVX. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Vaxcyte from $157.00 to $137.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Vaxcyte to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $136.50.

Vaxcyte Trading Up 14.2%

Shares of NASDAQ PCVX traded up $4.54 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.57. 4,372,071 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,353,918. The stock has a market cap of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.95 and a beta of 1.27. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.66 and a 1 year high of $121.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.70.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The company reported ($1.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.02) by ($0.02). During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.85) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vaxcyte

In related news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.27, for a total transaction of $586,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 154,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,351,794.37. The trade was a 4.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

About Vaxcyte

Vaxcyte, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology vaccine company, develops novel protein vaccines to prevent or treat bacterial infectious diseases. Its lead vaccine candidate is VAX-24, a 24-valent investigational pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease. The company also develops VAX-31 to protect against emerging strains and to help address antibiotic resistance; VAX-A1, a novel conjugate vaccine candidate to prevent disease caused by Group A Streptococcus; VAX-PG, a novel protein vaccine candidate targeting keystone pathogen responsible for periodontitis; and VAX-GI to prevent Shigella, a bacterial illness.