Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on Vaxcyte, with six buys, one hold and two sells among nine analysts. The average 12-month price target is $86, versus a recent share price of $53.53.
• Vaxcyte reported quarterly EPS of -$2.30, missing the consensus estimate of -$1.74; analysts expect a full-year loss of approximately $7.91 per share.
• Institutional investors own a substantial 96.78% of shares and several major funds increased their positions, while company insiders sold roughly $5.0 million of stock over the past 90 days under pre-arranged trading plans.

Shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the nine analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.00.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research lowered Vaxcyte from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Vaxcyte from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

PCVX opened at $53.53 on Tuesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $53.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.00. Vaxcyte has a 1-year low of $29.08 and a 1-year high of $65.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.78 and a beta of 1.23.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($2.30) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.74) by ($0.56). During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.04) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte will post -7.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jim Wassil sold 2,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.33, for a total value of $126,742.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 156,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,830,290.80. This represents a 1.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Grant Pickering sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.65, for a total transaction of $111,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 133,215 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,413,414.75. This represents a 1.48% 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 ninety days, insiders sold 91,396 shares of company stock worth $4,975,725. Insiders own 3.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Vaxcyte by 23.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 16,575,875 shares of the company's stock worth $960,231,000 after acquiring 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 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,296,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $521,213,000 after purchasing an additional 2,981,038 shares during the last quarter. Caligan Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Vaxcyte in the 4th quarter valued at $78,660,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 418.0% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,725,000 shares of the company's stock worth $79,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392,000 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc grew its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 302.6% during the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 1,672,783 shares of the company's stock worth $77,182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257,253 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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