Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $140.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 76.43% from the company’s previous close.

PCVX has been the subject of several other reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Vaxcyte in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $145.71.

Vaxcyte Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ PCVX opened at $79.35 on Wednesday. Vaxcyte has a twelve month low of $58.10 and a twelve month high of $121.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $85.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.00. The company has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.25 and a beta of 0.98.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.16) by $0.14. As a group, research analysts predict that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.49, for a total transaction of $739,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 205,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,024,730.55. This trade represents a 3.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Grant Pickering sold 2,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.25, for a total transaction of $218,263.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 136,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,565,833.75. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,616 shares of company stock worth $6,766,481. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Vaxcyte by 61.1% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 22,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,594,000 after buying an additional 8,606 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in Vaxcyte during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,433,000. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC grew its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 68.1% in the third quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC now owns 32,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,715,000 after purchasing an additional 13,175 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 52.6% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 140,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,935,000 after purchasing an additional 48,543 shares during the period. Finally, Curi RMB Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Vaxcyte during the 3rd quarter worth about $903,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

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.