Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts give Vaxcyte a consensus "Moderate Buy" from eight brokerages (six buys, one hold, one sell) with an average 1-year price target of $86.
• The stock opened at $59.49 (52-week range $28.09–$65.00) and the company reported a quarterly EPS of ($1.80), missing estimates by $0.34; analysts project about -7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• Insiders sold roughly 14,787 shares (~$867K) in the last 90 days while institutional investors own about 96.78% of the stock.

Shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $86.00.

Several brokerages have recently commented on PCVX. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Vaxcyte from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on shares of Vaxcyte from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Vaxcyte from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

PCVX opened at $59.49 on Friday. Vaxcyte has a fifty-two week low of $28.09 and a fifty-two week high of $65.00. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $58.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.09. The company has a market capitalization of $8.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.59 and a beta of 1.38.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported ($1.80) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.46) by ($0.34). During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.12) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Vaxcyte will post -7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vaxcyte

In other news, COO Jim Wassil sold 7,395 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.88, for a total value of $435,417.60. Following the sale, 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Elvia Cowan sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $180,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 28,975 shares in the company, valued at $1,738,500. This represents a 9.38% decrease in their position. 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 sold a total of 14,787 shares of company stock worth $867,031 in the last 90 days. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PCVX. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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 worth $1,113,000 after buying an additional 15,774 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Vaxcyte during the 1st quarter worth about $219,000. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in Vaxcyte during the 1st quarter worth about $226,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Vaxcyte by 8.7% during 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 worth $19,409,000 after buying an additional 41,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Vaxcyte by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,681 shares of the company's stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.78% of the company's stock.

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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