Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) Upgraded by Evercore ISI to Strong-Buy Rating

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on PCVX. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $138.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Vaxcyte from $157.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Vaxcyte from $140.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Nine 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $136.50.

Vaxcyte Stock Performance

PCVX opened at $33.69 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $76.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.32 and a beta of 1.02. Vaxcyte has a fifty-two week low of $30.12 and a fifty-two week high of $121.06.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Vaxcyte will post -4.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Vaxcyte

In related news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.27, for a total value of $586,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 154,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,351,794.37. This trade represents a 4.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Teri Loxam sold 6,250 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at $610,664.25. This trade represents a 46.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,250 shares of company stock valued at $3,170,738. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vaxcyte

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in Vaxcyte during the fourth quarter worth about $1,433,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Vaxcyte by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 26,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after buying an additional 4,962 shares during the period. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Vaxcyte by 53.7% in the fourth quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC now owns 413,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,860,000 after acquiring an additional 144,516 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vaxcyte by 186.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 52,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,022,000 after acquiring an additional 34,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Vaxcyte by 70.8% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 593,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,418,000 after acquiring an additional 246,049 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

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.