Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Earns “Buy” Rating from Guggenheim

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities researchers at Guggenheim in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $160.00 price target on the stock. Guggenheim’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 115.58% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Vaxcyte in a research report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.50.

Vaxcyte Trading Down 5.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $74.22 on Wednesday. Vaxcyte has a 52 week low of $58.10 and a 52 week high of $121.06. The company’s 50 day moving average is $84.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.74. The company has a market cap of $9.25 billion, a PE ratio of -16.13 and a beta of 0.98.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by $0.14. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 15,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.45, for a total value of $1,386,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 450,301 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,630,327.45. The trade was a 3.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mikhail Eydelman sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.49, for a total transaction of $457,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 28,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,625,488.53. This represents a 14.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,616 shares of company stock valued at $6,766,481. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Vaxcyte by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,961,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $979,184,000 after acquiring an additional 521,204 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Vaxcyte by 23.1% during 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. increased its position in Vaxcyte by 5.9% during the third quarter. RA Capital Management L.P. now owns 8,689,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $992,914,000 after buying an additional 485,436 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 26.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,210,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,405,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $389,174,000 after acquiring an additional 38,596 shares in the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.