Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $145.71.

PCVX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.11, for a total transaction of $531,937.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,664.25. This trade represents a 46.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.66, for a total transaction of $669,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 205,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,208,443.70. This trade represents a 3.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 62,982 shares of company stock worth $5,651,725. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Vaxcyte by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,921,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,247,954,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052,989 shares during the period. RA Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 5.9% in the third quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 8,689,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $992,914,000 after purchasing an additional 485,436 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 47.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,295,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,075,000 after purchasing an additional 419,600 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Vaxcyte in the third quarter valued at $41,114,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Vaxcyte by 13.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,786,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,162,000 after buying an additional 324,560 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

Vaxcyte Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $91.95 on Friday. Vaxcyte has a fifty-two week low of $58.10 and a fifty-two week high of $121.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.20. The company has a market cap of $11.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.99 and a beta of 0.98.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.10) by $0.27. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.91) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Vaxcyte will post -4.14 EPS for the current year.

Vaxcyte Company 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.