Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $145.71.

PCVX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Vaxcyte in a report on Friday, December 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Vaxcyte in a report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Insider Activity

In other Vaxcyte news, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of the company'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 transaction of $692,080.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 109,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,472,066.41. This represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Grant Pickering sold 2,366 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.89, for a total value of $245,803.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 137,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,274,278.22. This represents a 1.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 62,982 shares of company stock valued at $5,651,725. Insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vaxcyte

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Vaxcyte by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 31,500 shares of the company's stock worth $2,579,000 after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in Vaxcyte by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,307 shares of the company's stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in Vaxcyte by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 5,685 shares of the company's stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Vaxcyte during the 4th quarter worth approximately $161,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.78% of the company's stock.

Vaxcyte Trading Down 4.0 %

PCVX traded down $3.51 on Friday, hitting $84.81. 803,113 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,191,894. Vaxcyte has a twelve month low of $58.10 and a twelve month high of $121.06. The company has a market cap of $10.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.44 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $87.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.38.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.83) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.27. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.91) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 EPS for the current year.

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.