Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $6.02 Million Stock Holdings in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) by 186.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 52,702 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 34,287 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Vaxcyte were worth $6,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PCVX. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in Vaxcyte by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 312,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,701,000 after acquiring an additional 66,183 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Vaxcyte by 13.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,786,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,162,000 after buying an additional 324,560 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Vaxcyte during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $507,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the third quarter worth $355,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vaxcyte by 10.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,700,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,675,000 after acquiring an additional 259,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $81.86 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.90. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.83 and a 1 year high of $121.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.80 and a beta of 0.94.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.27. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.91) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on PCVX shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Vaxcyte from $113.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Vaxcyte from $101.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Vaxcyte in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vaxcyte has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $145.71.

Insider Transactions at Vaxcyte

In related news, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 42,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.39, for a total transaction of $4,846,380.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 90,383 shares in the company, valued at $10,429,294.37. The trade was a 31.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Grant Pickering sold 2,366 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.25, for a total value of $218,263.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 136,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,565,833.75. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 117,830 shares of company stock valued at $12,383,030. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.