Woodline Partners LP Purchases 16,977 Shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX)

Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Vaxcyte, Inc. (NASDAQ:PCVX) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,120,922 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,977 shares during the quarter. Vaxcyte comprises approximately 0.6% of Woodline Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Woodline Partners LP’s holdings in Vaxcyte were worth $91,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PCVX. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Vaxcyte by 26.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,210,523 shares of the company’s stock worth $508,393,000 after purchasing an additional 1,312,302 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Vaxcyte in the 4th quarter worth approximately $90,069,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Vaxcyte by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,961,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $979,184,000 after purchasing an additional 521,204 shares during the period. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP grew its position in Vaxcyte by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 1,422,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,469,000 after purchasing an additional 518,255 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Vaxcyte in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,846,000. Institutional investors own 96.78% of the company’s stock.

Vaxcyte Price Performance

Shares of Vaxcyte stock opened at $32.03 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of -6.96 and a beta of 1.27. Vaxcyte, Inc. has a 1-year low of $27.66 and a 1-year high of $121.06.

Vaxcyte (NASDAQ:PCVX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The company reported ($1.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.02) by ($0.02). During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.85) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Vaxcyte, Inc. will post -4.21 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Vaxcyte

In related news, COO Jim Wassil sold 8,000 shares of Vaxcyte stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 154,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,351,794.37. The trade was a 4.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PCVX shares. Bank of America cut 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Vaxcyte in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Vaxcyte to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Vaxcyte from $138.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Vaxcyte in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $136.50.

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.