Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Sees Strong Trading Volume - Still a Buy?

Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 1,354,631 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 27% from the previous session's volume of 1,068,534 shares.The stock last traded at $33.09 and had previously closed at $32.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PCVX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $157.00 to $137.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $140.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Vaxcyte from $138.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Vaxcyte to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $136.50.

Vaxcyte Trading Up 2.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.07 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $74.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.47.

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Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.16) by $0.14. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $610,664.25. This represents a 46.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew Guggenhime sold 8,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 109,491 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,472,066.41. This trade represents a 6.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,250 shares of company stock worth $3,170,738. Insiders own 3.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Vaxcyte

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,210,523 shares of the company's stock valued at $508,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312,302 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Vaxcyte in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $90,069,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Vaxcyte by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,961,687 shares of the company's stock valued at $979,184,000 after purchasing an additional 521,204 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP raised its position in Vaxcyte by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 1,422,787 shares of the company's stock valued at $116,469,000 after purchasing an additional 518,255 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Vaxcyte during the fourth quarter worth $39,846,000. 96.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.