Vaxcyte, Inc. $PCVX Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its Vaxcyte stake by 84.6% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 7,798 shares valued at about $363,000.
• Vaxcyte reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, posting EPS of -$2.30 versus analyst estimates of -$1.74. Analysts now expect the company to lose $7.91 per share this fiscal year.
• Sentiment remains mixed: the stock has a Hold consensus rating with an average price target of $86, even as recent insider sales and some analyst downgrades have added pressure.

Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Free Report) by 84.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,798 shares of the company's stock after selling 42,827 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Vaxcyte were worth $363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Vaxcyte Price Performance

Shares of Vaxcyte stock opened at $56.20 on Friday. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.08 and a 1 year high of $65.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $52.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.23. The company has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.17 and a beta of 1.22.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($2.30) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.74) by ($0.56). During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.04) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PCVX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vaxcyte from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Vaxcyte from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 22,461 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.50, for a total value of $1,179,202.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 474,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,921,907.50. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 10,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.28, for a total transaction of $572,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 104,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,979,745.60. This trade represents a 8.74% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 75,448 shares of company stock valued at $4,091,197 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

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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