Kennedy Capital Management LLC Makes New $1.35 Million Investment in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 16,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,353,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Vaxcyte by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,961,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $979,184,000 after buying an additional 521,204 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,869,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,884,000 after acquiring an additional 82,997 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,802,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,495,000 after purchasing an additional 102,106 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,779,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,659,000 after purchasing an additional 133,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,341,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,838,000 after purchasing an additional 45,936 shares during the period. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.51, for a total value of $692,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 109,491 shares in the company, valued at $9,472,066.41. This represents a 6.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.11, for a total value of $531,937.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,664.25. This represents a 46.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,250 shares of company stock valued at $3,170,738 over the last quarter. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PCVX opened at $32.04 on Tuesday. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $121.06. The company has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of -6.97 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a fifty day moving average of $65.25 and a 200-day moving average of $84.98.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.14. On average, equities analysts forecast that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PCVX. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Vaxcyte from $138.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America cut their target price on Vaxcyte from $157.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Vaxcyte to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $136.50.

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.