Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) by 1,122.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,886 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,568 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Vaxcyte were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PCVX. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Vaxcyte during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,426,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vaxcyte during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $178,000. Ellsworth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Vaxcyte during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $365,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Vaxcyte by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 396,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,190,000 after buying an additional 14,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Vaxcyte by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 10,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. 96.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.02, for a total transaction of $552,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 95,679 shares in the company, valued at $6,603,764.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Vaxcyte news, CEO Grant Pickering sold 15,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.92, for a total value of $928,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 477,847 shares in the company, valued at $29,588,286.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.02, for a total value of $552,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 95,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,603,764.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,577 shares of company stock worth $7,400,635 over the last three months. 3.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

NASDAQ PCVX opened at $60.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.70 and a beta of 0.89. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a one year low of $41.57 and a one year high of $82.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $67.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.36.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($1.82) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.89) by ($0.93). During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.73) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PCVX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Vaxcyte from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, Vaxcyte presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.50.

Vaxcyte Company Profile

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.