Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Vaxcyte from a "strong sell" to a "sell" rating in a report issued Monday.
• Despite that downgrade, consensus remains tilted positive with seven Buy ratings, one Hold and one Sell, and a MarketBeat consensus price target of $86 versus the recent share price around $62.
• Fundamentals show weakness—Vaxcyte missed quarterly EPS (reported -$1.80 vs. -$1.46 expected) and analysts forecast ~-4.21 EPS for the year—while insiders sold about 14,787 shares (~$867k) in the past 90 days.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued on Monday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. BTIG Research raised 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. Needham & Company LLC raised 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. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $116.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Seven 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Vaxcyte has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $86.00.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $62.35 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a PE ratio of -11.09 and a beta of 1.38. Vaxcyte has a 1 year low of $28.09 and a 1 year high of $65.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $57.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.48.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported ($1.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.46) by ($0.34). During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.12) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 28,975 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,738,500. The trade was a 9.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 transaction of $435,417.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 166,818 shares in the company, valued at $9,822,243.84. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 14,787 shares of company stock worth $867,031 in the last ninety days. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 156.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 597 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 1,463.4% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 641 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 741 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 148.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,222 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 731 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. 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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