Analysts Set Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) PT at $145.71

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) has been assigned an average rating of “Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $145.71.

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

Vaxcyte Trading Down 7.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ PCVX opened at $81.06 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $10.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.62 and a beta of 0.98. Vaxcyte has a 12 month low of $58.10 and a 12 month high of $121.06. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $91.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.31.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.83) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.27. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.91) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Vaxcyte will post -4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vaxcyte

In other Vaxcyte news, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 42,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,429,294.37. This represents a 31.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.66, for a total value of $669,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 205,695 shares in the company, valued at $17,208,443.70. The trade was a 3.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,732 shares of company stock worth $11,730,787 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Vaxcyte by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,921,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,247,954,000 after buying an additional 2,052,989 shares during the last quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. raised its position in Vaxcyte by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 8,689,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $992,914,000 after buying an additional 485,436 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Vaxcyte by 47.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,295,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,075,000 after buying an additional 419,600 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Vaxcyte in the 3rd quarter valued at $41,114,000. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its position in Vaxcyte by 93.7% in the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 687,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,944,000 after buying an additional 332,777 shares during the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is currently 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.