Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $95.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 20.60% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Thursday, June 20th.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

Shares of PCVX stock opened at $78.77 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $69.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.40 and a beta of 0.97. Vaxcyte has a 12 month low of $44.20 and a 12 month high of $82.04.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.85) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.13) by $0.28. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte will post -3.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vaxcyte

In other Vaxcyte news, SVP Mikhail Eydelman sold 1,667 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $120,124.02. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,245,461.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.92, for a total transaction of $928,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 477,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,588,286.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mikhail Eydelman sold 1,667 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.06, for a total transaction of $120,124.02. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,245,461.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 86,483 shares of company stock valued at $6,048,133 over the last three months. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PCVX. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 25,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,712,000 after purchasing an additional 3,564 shares during the last quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Vaxcyte by 11,000.0% in the first quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 377,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,780,000 after buying an additional 374,000 shares during the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Vaxcyte by 4.0% in the first quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 8,203,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $560,398,000 after buying an additional 312,500 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the first quarter valued at $405,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 11.8% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 92,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,286,000 after acquiring an additional 9,695 shares during the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Vaxcyte

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.