Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 34,287 Shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) by 186.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,702 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,287 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Vaxcyte were worth $6,022,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Vaxcyte in the first quarter worth $1,288,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 15.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,737,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $665,152,000 after buying an additional 1,284,883 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 451.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 944 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vaxcyte in the first quarter worth approximately $321,000. Finally, American International Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Vaxcyte by 12.2% in the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 52,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,574,000 after acquiring an additional 5,686 shares during the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Vaxcyte

In related news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.98, for a total value of $1,184,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 478,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,822,574.24. The trade was a 3.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 42,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.39, for a total value of $4,846,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,429,294.37. The trade was a 31.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 117,464 shares of company stock worth $12,640,276 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

PCVX stock opened at $85.96 on Thursday. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.24 and a fifty-two week high of $121.06. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.11. The company has a market cap of $10.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.69 and a beta of 1.01.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.10) by $0.27. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.91) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on PCVX shares. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $98.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on shares of Vaxcyte from $106.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $113.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Vaxcyte from $101.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Vaxcyte presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $147.50.

Vaxcyte Profile

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.