Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Vaxcyte Put Options (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 31,587 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 2,385% compared to the typical volume of 1,271 put options.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

Shares of PCVX traded up $0.86 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $57.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,262,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,487,142. Vaxcyte has a 52 week low of $29.08 and a 52 week high of $65.00. The company has a market capitalization of $8.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.35 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $52.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.00.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($2.30) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.74) by ($0.56). During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.04) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vaxcyte will post -7.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Vaxcyte from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 22,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.50, for a total transaction of $1,179,202.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 474,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,921,907.50. The trade was a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 2,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.52, for a total transaction of $111,420.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 158,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,848,622.88. The trade was a 1.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 66,198 shares of company stock worth $3,571,655 in the last 90 days. 3.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PCVX. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Vaxcyte by 115.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 29,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after acquiring an additional 15,774 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Vaxcyte during the first quarter worth approximately $219,000. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in Vaxcyte during the first quarter valued at approximately $226,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Vaxcyte by 8.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 513,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,409,000 after purchasing an additional 41,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 13.8% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the period. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.