Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Vaxcyte has an average analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from eight brokerages, with six buy ratings, one hold, and one sell. The consensus 1-year price target is $86.
• The stock recently traded at $59.83, below its 52-week high of $65.00, and the company carries a market cap of $8.64 billion. It also reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, with EPS of ($2.30) versus estimates of ($1.74).
• Insiders have been selling shares, including the CFO and COO, while institutional ownership remains very high at 96.78%. Several large funds, including Janus Henderson and T. Rowe Price, increased their positions recently.

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.00.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PCVX. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Vaxcyte from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

Vaxcyte stock opened at $59.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.70 and a beta of 1.22. Vaxcyte has a fifty-two week low of $29.08 and a fifty-two week high of $65.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $52.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.89.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.04) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Vaxcyte will post -7.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.28, for a total value of $572,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 2,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total transaction of $126,742.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 156,760 shares in the company, valued at $8,830,290.80. This trade represents a 1.42% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 75,448 shares of company stock valued at $4,091,197. 3.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 23.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,575,875 shares of the company's stock valued at $960,231,000 after buying an additional 3,188,687 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 35.9% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,296,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $521,213,000 after buying an additional 2,981,038 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Vaxcyte by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,966,310 shares of the company's stock worth $275,286,000 after buying an additional 933,539 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Vaxcyte by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,980,005 shares of the company's stock worth $229,777,000 after buying an additional 194,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP increased its stake in Vaxcyte by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 4,068,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $187,698,000 after acquiring an additional 283,265 shares during the period. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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