Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $52.82, but opened at $55.25. Vaxcyte shares last traded at $53.27, with a volume of 397,654 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PCVX shares. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Leerink Partners set a $77.00 price objective on Vaxcyte and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Vaxcyte from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.17.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $47.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.61 and a beta of 1.34.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported ($1.56) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.27) by ($0.29). During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.83) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Vaxcyte

In other Vaxcyte news, SVP Elvia Cowan sold 11,623 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.92, for a total transaction of $556,974.16. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 14,534 shares in the company, valued at $696,469.28. This trade represents a 44.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Harpreet S. Dhaliwal sold 9,743 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.69, for a total value of $454,900.67. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 23,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,117,198.32. This represents a 28.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCVX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,320,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,783,000 after purchasing an additional 323,368 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Vaxcyte by 1.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,032,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,280,000 after buying an additional 77,967 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Vaxcyte by 12.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,942,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,672,000 after buying an additional 534,552 shares during the period. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP raised its stake in Vaxcyte by 12.2% in the third quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 3,784,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,327,000 after buying an additional 411,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in Vaxcyte by 21.6% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 3,732,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,452,000 after buying an additional 663,817 shares in the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Vaxcyte

Vaxcyte, Inc (NASDAQ: PCVX) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing a new generation of preventive vaccines aimed at combating serious bacterial diseases. Headquartered in San Carlos, California, Vaxcyte leverages proprietary conjugation technologies to design and manufacture multivalent vaccines targeting pathogens for which there remain significant unmet medical needs. The company’s platform is intended to streamline the production of conjugate vaccines by improving antigen presentation and broadening strain coverage compared with conventional approaches.

Vaxcyte’s lead candidate, VAX-24, is a 24-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine designed to protect against 24 serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae.