Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) from a "sell" to a "strong sell" in a report issued Tuesday.
• Despite that downgrade, the analyst mix remains bullish overall — six Buy, one Hold and one Sell — giving a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.00.
• Vaxcyte is a clinical‑stage biotech developing the 24‑valent pneumococcal vaccine VAX‑24; the company reported a quarterly loss of ($1.80) per share (missing estimates) and remains unprofitable.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Vaxcyte from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. BTIG Research raised their target price on Vaxcyte from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $116.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Vaxcyte Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $59.72 on Tuesday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $58.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.29. The stock has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.63 and a beta of 1.38. Vaxcyte has a twelve month low of $28.09 and a twelve month high of $65.00.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported ($1.80) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.46) by ($0.34). During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.12) EPS. On average, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $58.88, for a total value of $435,417.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 166,818 shares in the company, valued at $9,822,243.84. The trade was a 4.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Elvia Cowan sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $180,000.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 28,975 shares in the company, valued at $1,738,500. This trade represents a 9.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter, insiders have sold 14,787 shares of company stock worth $867,031. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PCVX. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 13,387,188 shares of the company's stock worth $617,731,000 after acquiring an additional 282,985 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Vaxcyte by 2.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,320,453 shares of the company's stock valued at $443,783,000 after purchasing an additional 323,368 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 worth $521,213,000 after purchasing an additional 2,981,038 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Vaxcyte by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,966,310 shares of the company's stock worth $275,286,000 after purchasing an additional 933,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in Vaxcyte by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,980,005 shares of the company's stock worth $229,777,000 after purchasing an additional 194,116 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.78% of the company's stock.

Vaxcyte Company Profile

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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