D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Purchases 352,155 Shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Free Report) by 83.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 775,653 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 352,155 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.62% of Vaxcyte worth $63,495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PCVX. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vaxcyte in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Vaxcyte by 188.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in Vaxcyte during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Vaxcyte by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 742 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Vaxcyte by 77,500.0% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 776 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.78% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PCVX. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI raised Vaxcyte to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Vaxcyte in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Vaxcyte from $157.00 to $137.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $136.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vaxcyte

In related news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.27, for a total value of $586,160.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 154,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,351,794.37. The trade was a 4.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Vaxcyte Stock Down 4.9%

Shares of PCVX traded down $1.54 on Tuesday, hitting $30.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,665,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,321,417. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $45.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.63. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.66 and a fifty-two week high of $121.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.53 and a beta of 1.27.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The company reported ($1.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.02) by ($0.02). During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.85) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Vaxcyte

Vaxcyte, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology vaccine company, develops novel protein vaccines to prevent or treat bacterial infectious diseases. Its lead vaccine candidate is VAX-24, a 24-valent investigational pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease. The company also develops VAX-31 to protect against emerging strains and to help address antibiotic resistance; VAX-A1, a novel conjugate vaccine candidate to prevent disease caused by Group A Streptococcus; VAX-PG, a novel protein vaccine candidate targeting keystone pathogen responsible for periodontitis; and VAX-GI to prevent Shigella, a bacterial illness.