Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 486,764 Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 486,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,846,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.39% of Vaxcyte at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,961,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $979,184,000 after acquiring an additional 521,204 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 26.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,210,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,312,302 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,869,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,884,000 after acquiring an additional 82,997 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,802,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,495,000 after acquiring an additional 102,106 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Vaxcyte by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,779,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,659,000 after acquiring an additional 133,448 shares during the period. 96.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vaxcyte

In other news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.27, for a total transaction of $586,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 154,931 shares in the company, valued at $11,351,794.37. The trade was a 4.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Vaxcyte Trading Up 1.4%

PCVX opened at $31.59 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of -6.87 and a beta of 1.27. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $121.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $45.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.63.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The company reported ($1.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.02) by ($0.02). During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.85) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on PCVX shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Vaxcyte to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Vaxcyte from $138.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Vaxcyte from $157.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vaxcyte currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.50.

Vaxcyte 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.