Vaxcyte, Inc. $PCVX Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its Vaxcyte stake by 40.2% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 39,880 shares valued at about $1.84 million.
• Vaxcyte reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, posting EPS of -$2.30 versus the consensus estimate of -$1.74, while analysts currently expect a full-year loss of -$7.46 per share.
• Despite mixed signals, Wall Street remains generally constructive on the stock: analysts give Vaxcyte a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $86, even as some insiders and funds have reduced holdings.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Free Report) by 40.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,880 shares of the company's stock after selling 26,778 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Vaxcyte were worth $1,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC grew its position in Vaxcyte by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,840 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 31,274 shares of the company's stock worth $1,443,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,333 shares of the company's stock worth $1,237,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 19,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $628,000 after acquiring an additional 755 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.78% of the company's stock.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ PCVX opened at $53.01 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $58.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.83. The company has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.70 and a beta of 1.30. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a one year low of $28.64 and a one year high of $65.00.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last announced 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 in the prior year, the business earned ($1.04) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -7.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Vaxcyte

In related news, CAO Elvia Cowan sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 9.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 7,395 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.88, for a total value of $435,417.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 166,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,822,243.84. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 17,037 shares of company stock worth $994,899 over the last 90 days. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PCVX shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Vaxcyte from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $116.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vaxcyte from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Vaxcyte presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $86.00.

About Vaxcyte

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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