Vaxcyte's (PCVX) "Buy" Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective points to a potential upside of 188.46% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Vaxcyte from $138.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Evercore ISI raised Vaxcyte to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Vaxcyte from $157.00 to $137.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $136.50.

Vaxcyte Trading Up 11.3 %

Shares of Vaxcyte stock traded up $3.16 on Tuesday, hitting $31.20. The stock had a trading volume of 4,052,649 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,195,761. The company's 50 day moving average price is $66.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.73. The stock has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.78 and a beta of 1.26. Vaxcyte has a 52-week low of $27.66 and a 52-week high of $121.06.

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Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by $0.14. Analysts predict that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 109,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,472,066.41. This trade represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. 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 Vaxcyte 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,250 shares of company stock worth $3,170,738. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in Vaxcyte in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,433,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,428 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,163,000 after purchasing an additional 4,962 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Vaxcyte by 53.7% during the 4th quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 413,637 shares of the company's stock worth $33,860,000 after purchasing an additional 144,516 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 186.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 52,702 shares of the company's stock worth $6,022,000 after acquiring an additional 34,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Vaxcyte by 70.8% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 593,523 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,418,000 after purchasing an additional 246,049 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.