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

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $127.71.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PCVX shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Vaxcyte in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Vaxcyte news, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.85, for a total value of $670,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 109,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,180,820.35. This represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Grant Pickering sold 15,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.45, for a total value of $1,386,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 450,301 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,630,327.45. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,616 shares of company stock worth $6,766,481 over the last quarter. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PCVX. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vaxcyte during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Vaxcyte by 188.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in Vaxcyte in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Vaxcyte by 33.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Vaxcyte by 77,500.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

PCVX opened at $81.68 on Tuesday. Vaxcyte has a 1 year low of $58.10 and a 1 year high of $121.06. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $94.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a PE ratio of -17.76 and a beta of 0.98.

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.