Brokerages Set Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) Target Price at $86.00

Shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.00.

PCVX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Vaxcyte from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. BTIG Research lifted their target price on Vaxcyte from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Vaxcyte from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th.

Vaxcyte Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ PCVX opened at $57.24 on Friday. Vaxcyte has a 12 month low of $28.09 and a 12 month high of $65.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.73 and a 200-day moving average of $51.47. The company has a market capitalization of $8.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.19 and a beta of 1.38.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported ($1.80) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.46) by ($0.34). During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.12) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Vaxcyte will post -7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Elvia Cowan sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $180,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 28,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,738,500. This trade represents a 9.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jim Wassil sold 7,395 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.88, for a total value of $435,417.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 166,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,822,243.84. This trade represents a 4.24% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,787 shares of company stock worth $867,031. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abel Hall LLC bought a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the first quarter worth approximately $376,000. Strs Ohio increased its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 199.0% during the first quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 30,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,790,000 after purchasing an additional 20,500 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 113.8% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,164,813 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,687,000 after purchasing an additional 620,085 shares during the period. Values First Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 41.4% during the first quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 6,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC bought a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the first quarter worth approximately $58,000. Institutional investors own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

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.